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RELATED CAUSES HOSTILE TO THE 

GENERAL PROSPERITY OF THE 

SOUTHERN PEOPLE 



CHARLES H. OTKEN, LL.D. 





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1894 


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Copyright, 1894, by 
G. P. Putnam's Sons 



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A. 



TO 

JOHN JAMES WHITE 

OF 
McCOMB CITY, MISSISSIPPI 

THIS BOOK OF BENEFICENT INTENT IS INSCRIBED 
AS AN EXPRESSION OF SINCERE FRIENDSHIP BY THE 

AUTHOR 



1/ o o ^1 



PREFACE 

My purpose in writing this book is found in the 
book itself. Some seventeen years ago the gover- 
nor of a Southern State asked the author " what the 
sentiment of the people in his part of the State was 
concerning the lien laws." After inquiry of quite 
a number of furnishing merchants, the fact was 
revealed that all these merchants except one were 
opposed to the repeal of these laws. This inquiry 
led to investigation not only of the business system, 
but of related subjects. The result of this inquiry 
is now given to the public. 

The book was written in no hostile spirit to any 
class of men. Its generous intent will disarm criti- 
cism. A condition of affairs exists that can not con- 
tinue without serious hurt to all the people. Gen- 
eral prosperity there is none. To call attention to 
the causes that underlie this condition, is the aim of 
the book. 

I am indebted for valuable information concern- 
ing the education of the colored people in the States 
of Georgia, North Carolina, Florida, Arkansas, and 
Texas, to Hon. S. D. Bradwell, John C. Scarbor- 
ough, W. N. Sheats, J. H. Shinn, and J. M. Carlisle, 
Superintendents of Public Instruction in these 
States; also to Hon. W. T. Harris, Commissioner of 
Education, for the latest educational statistics. 

V 



vi Preface, 

My acknowledgments are due Governors J. S. 
Hogg of Texas, Thos. G. Jones of Alabama, Mur- 
phy J. Foster of Louisiana, Henry L. Mitchell of 
Florida, J. M. Stone of Mississippi, and Hon. L. 
A. Whatley, Superintendent of Penitentiaries in 
Texas, and Hon. L. B. Wombwell, Commissioner of 
Agriculture in Florida, for crime statistics in their 
respective States. 

I desire, also, to acknowledge my obligations to 
Judge J. B. Chrisman and Judge Wm. P. Cassedy, 
both of Mississippi, for reading portions of the 
manuscript. 

C H. O. 

Summit, Miss., March, 1894. 



CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER I. 

PAGE 

The Condition of the South in 1865 ... i 

Widespread desolation — Disadvantages — The new rela- 
tion of former slaves — Whims and ignorance — Use of 
freedom — Attitude of the Southern people to the old 
relation — Encouragement — The negroes' fears easily ex- 
cited — Consequences — The spell broken — Poverty of the 
South — Shylocks — Debts and distress — The credit system 
introduced. 

CHAPTER II. 

The Credit System 12 

Usefulness of credit — Basal elements — Wealth and capital 
— Value and production — Features of the credit system — 
Opinion of Samuel Smiles — The debtor bound — Ignorance 
— Carelessness — Infidelity and dishonesty — First step to 
bankruptcy — A bad crop year — Lost all in ten years — The 
covenant — Merchant Harlem's view of bad debts — General 
effects — Millwell — Gains on a cash basis — Remedy — A 
prosperous cash merchant — No general prosperity — Invest- 
ments — No hostility — A serious condition. 

CHAPTER III. 
The Lien Law Machine 33 

Slow progress — Worth makes the man — Deeds of trust — 
Their intent — Effect on labor — Merchants became large 
landowners — Their grip on tenant labor — Resident farmers 
without labor — Decoy ducks — A big screw loose — Bitter 

vii 



viii Contents, 



memories — Patrick and Black John — Depredations — Cause 
of violence — Credit system and cash — Lien laws, the back- 
bone of the system — " Prettiest business in the world" — 
Five hundred men tied up — "Eight hundred do my bid- 
ding" — Honesty relegated to an inferior position — The 
galling yoke — Unscrupulous transactions — Lien laws have 
not benefited the negro nor the white people — Lien laws 
have placed a discount on all services — Strike the laws from 
the statutes — A large class has the experience, a small 
class the gold, as the fruit of these laws. 



CHAPTER IV. 
Cotton Production 54 

*' We never do " — Our business system — Henry W. Grady 
— Comments by the New Orleans Picayime — Debts and 
cotton production — " His line of credit" — The chances — 
Hon. B. H. Hill — Wade Sherman's experience— Canons 
of commerce perverted — The difference — More cotton — 
From Maryland, through Texas — "Superb estates" — A 
million bales in excess — Corn acreage, short — Live at 
home. 

CHAPTER V. 
Testimony 65 

Farmer Haygood and Merchant Caperton — Credit, cash, 
and discount — Who pay the bad debts ? — Ninety million 
bales could have been saved — Samuel Drew — Alexandre 
Dumas — Farmers handicapped — Does not know — Need of 
sympathy — Fifty to one hundred and twenty-five per cent. 
— Credit, the money-making business — High prices — Testi- 
mony in Alabama — Senator Irby — The true cancer — Ray- 
mond Gazette of Mississippi — The Selma Times of Ala- 
bama — Louisiana — Mississippi — Tennessee — Arkansas — 
Texas — Five million dollars lost per annum — Elements 
of high prices. 



Contents. ix 



CHAPTER VI. 

PAGE 

Testimony continued 8i 

The first step — What Alabama reports — Florida — Georgia 
— South Carolina — Over thirty thousand liens in eleven 
counties — North Carolina — The situation unchanged in' 
1893 — Groping in the dark — Local disturbances — The 
Clarion Ledger of Mississippi on the lien laws — A practi- 
cal example — Cost to record liens — Gains on cash basis at 
various rates — Gains on cash basis to ten men — Gains on 
cash basis to 2,005 nien on 10,000 bales of cotton for 
twenty years — Not a local condition — Joseph Baxendale. 

CHAPTER Vn. 
Agricultural Products 97 

Arrearage in food crop — Cereals in i860 — Cereals in 1889 
— After twenty-nine years, seven States had less grain than 
in i860— Cotton absorbed — The lesson of Table III. — 
Increase of the acreage and population — Increase of white 
and black — Persons engaged in agriculture in ten States — 
Cause of deficiency in grain — Shortsighted political econo- 
mists — The labor cause — Laborers on farms classified — 
Value of negro labor in Table VI TI. — Deterioration — What 
they do not raise — Productions of Hayti — "The people 
make the country " — Productions in Jamaica — The situa- 
tion in the English West Indies — The proof from three 
lands — Value of Southern farms — Value of ten Northern 
States — The experience from 1870 to 1879. 

CHAPTER VIII. 
The Farm Leaks 121 

Little things — Value of method — The live stock cause — 
Deficiency — Livestock in i860 and in 1890 — Balance sheet 
of losses — Statement of a Mississippi merchant — A long 
step toward independence — Food products of i860, 1870, 



Contents, 



PAGE 

1880, 1890, and 1892 — Fertilizers and fences — Fruit of 
twenty-seven commercial crops — Thirty years' experience — 
The dawn of a better day. 

CHAPTER IX. 
Our Broad Acres 134 

Our vast domain — The ten States — Comparisons — Farm 
land — Ownership — European and railroad ownership- 
Americans — Locality of alien lands — Railroad land and 
the German Empire compared — Land owned by syndicates 
in the South — The land movement — Size of farms in iS6o 
and in iS8o — Number cultivated by owners — Cultivated on 
the rental plan — Cultivated on the share plan — Total of 
these, per Table VI. — Tenure of farms — Difference in 
twenty years — Large plantations on the increase — Owner- 
ship in i860 and in i88o — Who own these farms? — Shy- 
lock's plan — Effect of our business methods on the land 
question — The statement by the St. Louis Republican — 
England's farm tenantry, by Senator D. W. Voorhees — 
The patent and passport of the Anglo-Saxon race — Salaries 
of England's clergy — England's landlords — Opinion by 
Ruskin — Peril to the American estate — Opinion by the 
World — Galveston News — The Panhandle of Texas — Land 
corporations and Governor Hogg of Texas. 

CHAPTER X. 
The Perversions in Business 165 

Business, an honorable term — Moral distinctions defaced — 
The science of exchange — The service of the merchant 
class — American farmers — Bad men — Crookedness in busi- 
ness — The situation of the South, an invitation — The gall- 
ing yoke — Ruin and riches — Might is right — Honest Mr. 
Hacker — The epitaph — Another pernicious doctrine — The 
retaliatory idea — Unscrupulous failures in business — 
Honest failures — Perjury — The Cretians — The Piengalee — 
A catalogue of lies — Negative goodness — The lack of indi- 



Contents. xi 



PAGE 

vidual responsibility— Public opinion — Its power — The 
value of prudence — The demand of duty — Dr. J. G. Hol- 
land — The true man — William Temple — Value of moral 
forces — Sentiments of a Southern statesman — The nation's 
wealth — Fairness — M illionaire condition — Causes. 

CHAPTER XI. 
Towns — Their Influence 187 

Object of towns — Chief employment — The boast — Town- 
ships that lost population — Effect on towns — Indifference 
— What can be done ? — Six square miles — The town's 
workshop — Education — High-sounding names — Too much 
and too little — Effects— High schools — Confusion — The 
counterfeit and the true — Moral influence of towns — Value 
of the influential class — The subordination of moral con- 
siderations to business — Responsibility of prominent men — 
No life isolated — The town a political centre — The gov- 
ernment of a dozen. 

CHAPTER XII. 
The Progress of the Negroes 201 

Their passive nature — W^hat have they done for them- 
selves ? — Kinds of negroes — Classes on American soil — 
Pure and mixed — Kind in each section — Movement — Lead- 
ers — Progress — Racial qualities — Rev. Dr. E. T. Winkler 
— Negroes in the West Indies — The South's endeavor to 
educate compared — Organized benevolence — State contri- 
butions—Crime — In six Northern States — In six Southern 
States — The difference between white and black — Increase 
of crime — Burden in the South — Mr. Everett's statement 
in 1833 — The Legislature of Connecticut in 1834 — Ver- 
mont — Resolution by the Legislature of Ohio in 1835 — 
Transformation in the South — Rev. Dr. MacVicar — Ala- 
bama — Mississippi — Pike County — Idleness and vices — 
Court expense — Effect of education — Fruitage of churches 
and schools — Relation of the whites to the blacks. 



xii Contents, 



CHAPTER XIII. 

PAGE 

The Negroes as Farm Laborers 236 

Result of the incentives to work — Degrees in the work of 
the old and new generation — Condition now and then — 
Not self-sustaining — Non-productive classes — Workers — 
Prospect of the educated Hamite — A pauper race — White 
labor increasing — Difference between white and black 
labor — Without supervision, black labor is a failure — 
Cotton production by white labor, and the Commissioner of 
Agriculture for 1876 — The Centujy Magazine — Gain of 
white labor per annum — Mr, Edward Atkinson — " The old 
nonsense " in reference to white labor — Attention to the 
race question demanded. 

CHAPTER XIV. 
Negro Colonization 248 

The historic record — The common opinion — The out- 
look of the English West Indies— Judgment of United 
States Senator Hammond in 1845 — Thomas Jefferson — 
Senator J. J. Ingalls — Mr. Lincoln — The even chance to 
the negroes, North and South — The veto of history — 
Hemmed in by a Chinese wall — The path of safety — Opin- 
ions of prominent colored men — Colonization ends the 
strife — Dr. M. R. Delany, a negro of pure blood — The 
colored Cleveland Convention in 1854 — The Great Congo 
Basin of Africa — A feasible deportation plan — Advantages 
— Deal justly with the black man. 



THE ILLS OF THE SOUTH. 

CHAPTER I. 

THE CONDITION OF THE SOUTH IN 1 865. 

The Past but lives in words ; a thousand ages were blank if books 
had not evoked their ghosts and kept the pale embodied shades to 
warn us from fleshless lips. — Bulwer. 

WIDESPREAD desolation reigned in every 
portion of the South in 1865. The war of 
the States was ended. The South had staked all — 
lives and fortunes — upon a principle, and lost. The 
four years' struggle, with its hopes and its fears, was 
behind them ; defeat, with all its vast significance, 
was before them. The Southern soldiers returned 
to their homes. It is not too much to say, that a 
large majority of the soldiers of the Confederate 
armies had homes. But these homes of comfort 
and plenty in 1861 were not those to which they 
returned after the surrender. A great change had 
swept over them. Four years' ruthless war had 
left indelible marks. Time with its ravages, the 
mismanagement of farms and plantations left largely 
in charge of the negroes, the vandalism of armies in 
the destruction of property, had made hideous 
alterations in the condition of the country. Dilapi- 



The Ills of the South. 



dated dwellings, fences out of repair and in many 
instances burned, sugar-houses and gin-houses dam- 
aged or in ruins, were seen everywhere. Farms once 
producing profitable crops were now grown up in 
broom-sage. The chimneys of hundreds of comfort- 
able dwellings furnished the only evidence that these 
places were once the abodes of human habitation. 
Cattle and live-stock of every description were largely 
diminished. Everywhere devastation met the eye. 

The Southern farmers commenced life anew under 
many and disheartening disadvantages. Not a few 
were well advanced in years, and had large families. 
There was mourning throughout the Southland. 
Many husbands, fathers, and sons slept on distant 
battlefields, never to return. Thousands of widows 
were left penniless. The gloom was appalling, and 
the people were poor. Those that had something 
left were ill-prepared to help their poorer neighbors. 
Hundreds returned maimed in body. There was 
nothing to relieve these scenes of ruin, save the 
brave, resolute determination to commence the hard 
struggle for existence. 

Their former slaves were freedmen. Four million 
negroes were not only free, but were invested with 
civil rights. What a novel condition ! What a 
tremendous experiment ! Nearly a million negro 
families commenced the business of housekeeping 
without a dollar in their possession. Their masters 
were poor. The negro was ignorant ; he could 
neither read nor write. In all knowledge pertain- 
ing to the management of business, or relating to 
political matters, he was a child. He was made the 



The Cofidition of the South in iS6^. 3 

• victim of cruel impositions on the part of designing 
men. His truest friends found it impossible to 
reason with him. He was shy of his old master. 
The stranger who made him large promises and 
fulfilled none, had influence with him. The dis- 
honest man, playing upon the negro's ignorance, 
could secure his work for one-fifth of the crop 
made. The old master's of¥er of one-third was 
rejected. This ignorance of the negro complicated 
matters seriously. The immediate effect was, that 
the farmer who had worked twenty-five hands, com- 
menced his year's work with five or ten croppers, 
and they inferior laborers, while men who had never 
owned a slave had twenty. Negro labor was a gam- 
bling commodity. In a majority of these latter 
cases nothing was made, and in a few years these 
men, who expected to work freedmen as they had 
seen them work when slaves, found themselves 
hopelessly involved in debt. The negro was eman- 
cipated from servitude and from wholesome re- 
straints. He enjoyed his newborn freedom in full 
measure. Saturday was a holiday. To visit the 
towns on this day was paradise on earth. 

His whims were marvelous. To attend a negro 
funeral, ten miles distant, was a duty; to help the 
sick man in distress was another matter. Political 
meetings had a peculiar fascination for him. Carpet- 
baggers arranged these gatherings during the recon- 
struction period. The time for such meetings was 
usually at night, when the political ofiice seeker, 
generally a stranger to the Southern people, made 
preposterous promises to his dusky hearers. The 



The Ills of the South, 



division of the white folks* property was a charming 
theme. " Forty acres and a mule " v/as not a myth, 
but a genuine promise made by a genuine impostor. 
A solid negro vote for such a friend was as certain 
as the negro's credulity in the delusion. It widened 
the gulf between the negro and his former master. 
He became thoroughly estranged from his old 
master. Neither kindness nor reason could control 
him. Suspicion misconstrued the fairest acts and the 
most disinterested motives of his friends. Behind 
these motives the negro saw some fell purpose to 
re-enslave him. A hint to this effect from his 
political boss was sufificient to awaken his worst fears. 
His alarm took fire. The dreadful intimation of 
such a possibility — a return to slavery — spread like 
wildfire. In twenty-four hours the horrible news 
was conveyed from cabin to cabin, and whispered 
with bated breath. On election day he came to 
vote, not as an individual, but in companies of fifty, 
one hundred, two hundred strong, provided with 
tickets ; and without breaking ranks, each man waited 
with patience for the time to deposit a vote for his 
friend. Such was the travesty for years on the 
high privilege of an American citizen. The despot- 
ism of fear, secretly and artfully fanned by this class 
of adventurers, was stronger than the purest en- 
deavors of honest men to serve the credulous freed- 
men. 

Attendance on religious meetings, protracted for 
a week at a time, was a species of mania with the 
negro. The large crowd, the exciting harangue of 
the preacher, the singing of several hundred voices, 



The Condition of the South in iS6^. 5 

the shouts of the most impressible natures, made 
these gatherings irresistible in their attractions. 
The wild, weird scene captivated his fancy. He 
felt good. His feelings were deeply stirred. Here 
he was conscious, too, of freedom. He could stay 
till midnight, and this was a common occurrence. 
No authority could command: "It is time to ^o 
home." If husband and wife and children trudged 
through rain and mud, and reached home by two 
o'clock in the morning, it was all right. Wasn't 
Dick a freedman? Wasn't his family free? Free- 
dom made him a fool during these early years after 
the war. What else could be expected? The negro 
could not appreciate its meaning. To him it was 
license. It meant to do as he pleased. He could 
rise no higher in his conception. If he stretched 
his freedom to the robbing of a hen-roost, the kill- 
ing of a shote or a yearling that did not belong to 
him, he felt no shame ; he knew no compunction of 
conscience. If, after a sleepless night, he went sulk- 
ily to work, and did his work generally wrong, and 
then in a fit of passion knocked his employer's mule 
in the head, and that employer asserted his authority 
in the use of the cane argument across Dick's back, 
promptly the case was reported to the carpet-bag 
sheriff. The sheriff was the boss of the county— the 
friend of the negro. A fine of ten dollars by the 
justice of the peace, the loss of a hundred and fifty 
dollar mule, and the decamping of Dick and his 
family, made up the finale of the protracted meet- 
ing or of the nocturnal political gathering. Such 
was the earliest fruit of freedom. That amid these 



The Ills of the South, 



perplexities, forced to deal with the negro incapable 
of understanding his own interest, the white people 
should occasionally resort to extreme measures, was 
but the natural outgrowth of this relationship. 

Let it be stated here that the Southern people 
are a unit in their cheerful approval of the accom- 
plished fact — the freedom of the negro. Negro 
slavery is dead forever. 

The Christian people of the South offered every 
encouragement to the negroes for regular religious 
worship. They counseled them, and in every way 
cultivated friendly relations. When they desired 
men of their own color as preachers, and houses of 
worship of their own, the white people aided them. 
That these gatherings soon after the war were often 
abused, and the hours of service extended to un- 
reasonable length, are well-known facts. 

The negro was excited by every bauble. This 
racial quality made him the dupe of the political 
adventurer ; the victim of every unscrupulous man 
who wished to use him. He was easily affected by 
his hopes and fears. Any absurd story to re-enslave 
him placed him at the disposal of his informer, to 
do his bidding. Fearful where there was nothing 
to fear, unable to detect the imposition, spurning 
the advice of Southern men, the situation during 
the first ten years after the war was full of turmoil. 
The negroes, destitute of the rudiments of political 
knowledge, controlled the affairs of the Southern 
States. Ignorance governed intelligence. Black 
and tan legislatures imposed heavy burdens upon 
the people. Taxes were high. A summons to the 



The Co7tdztion of the South 771 186^. 7 

negroes to attend a political club, at night or in the 
day, must be obeyed. Protestations were vain. 
No matter how urgent the work was on the farm, 
even if the cotton and corn were in the grass, their 
presence at the club was imperative. During an 
approaching election, to lose two days in a week at 
political meetings, besides Saturday, no matter how 
much the growing crop suffered, did not concern 
the negroes. To meet a crowd of tv/o or three 
hundred negroes, all mounted on mules and horses 
the property of their employers, was not an uncom- 
mon sight. Such crowds, led by a single white man, 
were often met riding through the country. These 
negroes were in many instances instructed to oppose 
the white people— their old masters— by men who 
had no interest in the welfare of the country. 
They used the negroes for their own selfish pur- 
poses, burdened the country with heavy taxes, 
played upon the groundless fears of this ignorant 
people, and each year sunk the farming community 
deeper in debt. As long as the negroes could be 
influenced by the great bugbear re-enslavement, 
they voted solidly for this class of men.. They 
believed the adventurer omnipotent to save^them. 
But this state of affairs could not continue. The 
condition of the Southern States was desperate. 
A crisis was approaching. The South could not 
then, can not now, be made a Hayti. Ten years' 
woe-begone experience of iniquitous misrule had 
tested the patience of the Southern people to the 
utmost. The hour of deliverance must come. The 
white people determined to rid the land of these 



The Ills of the South, 



bad men. The majority of these men had one 
ambition — to fatten upon the country. They cared 
nothing for the negro, and in the welfare of the 
people they had neither part nor lot. The inex- 
orable law of self-preservation demanded their expul- 
sion. Necessity urged it every day. They were 
nearly to a man, with some noble exceptions, fire- 
brands to society, haters of social order, and their 
misrule was augmenting the debts of the farmer 
every year. With this riddance, the negro's bug- 
bear of re-enslavement soon died the death. He 
was disenchanted. The illusion which bound him so 
long, vanished. Since then, thousands have entered 
the Democratic fold, and a vast number care noth- 
ing for politics. They have discovered that " forty 
acres and a mule " is a hoax. Another discovery 
has been made, that the Anglo-Saxon race must 
rule this country. The superioV race must domi- 
nate. All the high interests of the South demand 
it. Such domination is mercy to the negro in his 
present condition. The affairs of government can- 
not be intrusted with any degree of safety into the 
hands of an ignorant and inferior race. It can not 
be done in the South. It is not done in the North. 
To do so, means anarchy and ruin to the negro. 

It should be observed that the situation of the 
Southern States, here described, was the retrograde 
and ruinous movement of the country, immediately 
after the close of hostilities. That condition in 
1865 was unique. In all these Southern States 
there was not an inland village or town containing 
a single store that could furnish a barrel of flour 



The Condition of the Sotcth in i86^. 9 

or sugar, a sack of coffee or salt, a pair of shoes 
or boots, a yard of calico or a yard of domestic, 
a hat, a cap, or a suit of clothes. Not a knife, a 
spade, a garden rake, a hoe, or a plow could be 
found. The destitution of every needful domestic 
article was general, and the people were in need 
of everything. But if the stores had been full of 
every variety of merchandise to supply every want, 
the people had no money. Confederate money was 
plentiful, but current money there was none. Here 
and there a little gold may have been found. The 
great body of the people had no money. Neither 
had a large percentage of the people anything with 
which to procure money. Those who had cotton 
sold it at a high price, and were able to provide 
their home wants. Speculators in cotton who were 
able to remain at home during the war on account 
of their age, or the ability to secure substitutes, 
fared well. This class of men, who in 1861 were 
worth nothing, or at best a few thousand dollars, 
were in 1866 rich. A hundred bales of cotton repre- 
sented forty thousand dollars. Men who were poor 
at the beginning of the struggle, were wealthy at its 
termination, representing fifty, a hundred, and two 
hundred thousand dollars in cash. They became 
the money lenders of the country. Some few were 
moderate and reasonable in their terms in aiding 
their unfortunate neighbors. Others were hard 
and exacting — veritable Shylocks. Their oppor- 
tunity had come, and they proposed to use it in 
full measure. It was the feast day for moneyed 
tyranny. The situation was deplorable to the poor 



lo The Ills of the South. 

and the unfortunate. The times were out of 
joint. 

Add to these troubles the fact that quite a 
number of men whose solvency was unquestioned 
in 1861, had old debts to pay, and they had noth- 
ing with which to pay them. Some of these claims 
were security debts ; others were for negroes bought 
when the war commenced. Hard, relentless cred- 
itors demanded payment with an urgency and a 
teasing persistency that drove the debtor to borrow 
money at exorbitant rates, and secured the same by 
a mortgage on his land. The foreclosure of such 
mortgage was in many instances a foreseen fact. 
A place worth ten thousand dollars was sold for 
half, and even one-fourth, of that sum. Hundreds 
of families that had never known what poverty 
meant, and unaccustomed to its pinching and hu- 
miliating distress, were homeless and beggars in 
the land of their birth. Many families nurtured in 
all the elegant refinements of life, were reduced to 
the hard necessity of doing the drudgery which a 
few short years ago was the work of slaves. The 
distress was bitter and keen. Others shifted their 
debts from one creditor to another, and, after years 
of hard toil, paid the principal and twice and three 
times that sum in interest. What a hard struggle 
it was! The milk of charity — the humane feelings 
— had soured in many a bosom. 

This condition of affairs in the South introduced 
a vast credit system whose tremendous evils and 
exorbitant exactions have brought poverty and 
bankruptcy to thousands of families. As a policy. 



The Condition of the South in i86^. 1 1 

it is vindictive in its subtile sophistry ; as a system, 
it has crushed out all independence and reduced its 
victims to a coarse species of servile slavery ; as a 
relief measure, it is cruel in its deception and in its 
demands. 

It is proposed, in these pages, to portray the evils 
not of credit, but of the credit system, with such 
other concomitant evils as menace many vital inter- 
ests of the Southern people. A crisis is approach- 
ing. The future is dark with storm-clouds. 



CHAPTER II. 

THE CREDIT SYSTEM. 

" Of what a hideous progeny is debt the father ! What lies, what 
meanness, what invasions on self-respect, what cares, what double 
dealing ! How, in due season, it will carve the frank, open face 
into wrinkles! How, like a knife, it will stab the honest heart " — 
D. Jerrold. 

/'CREDIT is useful in an eminent degree. The 
^-^ business system prevailing with such hurtful 
and dangerous tendencies in the Southern States, is 
enslaving the people, and, by its insidious operations, 
concentrating productive wealth in the hands of the 
few. It reduces a large body of people to a state of 
beggary, fosters a discontented spirit, checks con- 
sumption, produces recklessness on the part of the 
consumer, places a discount on honesty, and con- 
verts commerce into a vast pawning shop where 
farmers pledge their lands for hominy and bacon 
upon ruinous terms in harmony with the pawning 
system. 

The doctrine of credit is, that it is confidence 
in the integrity and truthfulness of our fellow-men. 
These qualities form a strong basis of trust. Where 
they exist, doubt as to the fulfillment of a promise 
loses its sickly hue. Ability to perform the promise 
made is the foundation upon which confidence must 



The Credit System, 13 



rest. These three basal elements — ability, integrity, 
and truthfulness— ^x^ the strong ribs of genuine 
credit. 

When they are impaired by whatever circum- 
stances, misfortunes and providential dispensations 
excepted, confidence is damaged. Where these 
qualities exist, trust is their normal outgrowth. It 
is natural to trust when all the conditions upon 
which it depends are favorable. Trust in our fellow- 
men must be measured by the essential elements 
that give it birth. 

The basis of confidence is wealth, and wealth is 
composed of all those objects which can be used 
and exchanged for other useful things. Food, 
clothing, houses, land, and whatever object can 
gratify human desire and that can be appropriated, 
constitute wealth. Money in itself is not wealth. 
It has nothing to gratify human desires. It can 
satisfy no human want. The money of the civilized 
world could not have kept Robinson Crusoe from 
starvation. The silver of Peru, had it been coined 
into money, could not procure for Pizarro a pound 
of bread or a pound of iron. Money measures 
wealth; this is its function. Neither does wealth 
consist in mortgages, bonds, and stocks. They are 
mere title-deeds to wealth. A mortgage upon a 
farm divides the ownership. These commercial 
instruments are the mere symbols of genuine wealth. 
A five-thousand-dollar United States bond is a 
lien on the wealth of the whole country. Should 
production cease, the bond would be worth less than 
the paper upon which it is written. None of these 



14 The Ills of the South. 



things can in themselves gratify human desires, and 
unless there is wealth, which they are supposed to 
symbolize, they can not be exchanged. 

Neither is all wealth capital ; but all capital is 
wealth. So much of wealth as is used in production 
is capital. Five hundred dollars invested in machin- 
ery to be used is capital. It is employed to produce 
wealth. If the five hundred dollars is locked up, 
the wealth it represents is idle. It produces nothing, 
serves no good purpose to mankind in procuring 
objects of desire or comfort. 

Production creates value ; it develops wealth. 
It multiplies those various objects that minister to 
human wants and enjoyment. The farmer, by whose 
exertion a crop of cotton, corn, or wheat is created, 
under the laws of God is a wealth producer. The 
tree of the forest, transformed into lumber, has 
value conferred upon it by human industry. The 
lumber is useful and desirable for many purposes. 
The same is true of iron changed into horseshoes. 
All industries that confer value upon the material 
provided by the bounty of God are wealth pro- 
ducers. Some of these industries confer value by 
direct methods ; others by indirect. The ax, the 
hatchet, the saw, the spade, the plow, are all instru- 
ments of value; but other persons than those that 
made them must use them in the production of 
those things that shall minister to our desires. 

Wealth developed by production is the foundation 
of confidence. Such a foundation is necessary to 
commerce — necessary in the manifold forms of ex- 
change. The employer trusts the truthfulness and 



The Credit System. 15 



integrity of the employee to do the work proposed. 
The merchant reposes confidence in those with 
whom he has business relations. In all the various 
forms of trade, occupations, and industries, this 
confidence is a very important factor. Without it, 
human industries would halt; exchanges would be 
burdened with needless work. In commerce this 
element performs a larger and more useful function 
than money itself. Why should A of New Orleans 
send a thousand dollars to B of New York, when C 
of New York owes this sum to A of New Orleans? 
A's draft on C in favor of B will adjust the claim. 
Destroy the basis of this confidence, and this 
method of settlement is at an end. All healthy 
credit must be sustained by ability, integrity, and 
truthfulness. 

The features of the credit system in vogue in 
the Southern States during the last twenty-five 
years, differ widely from those of credit. It oper- 
ates upon a different basis. The credit mode of 
doing business and the plan of the credit system 
are far apart. While credit is helpful, stimulating 
in the development of wealth, the credit system 
is depressing, discouraging — destroying hope. The 
one is rational, an aid to progress ; the other is 
irrational, and clogs the forward movement of the 
people. 

(i) This system is responsible for an indefinite- 
ness as it respects the debtor, which amounts to 
tyranny. When A borrows a hundred dollars from 
B, he knows definitely the rate of interest he has 
agreed to pay B. The rate of interest is determined 



1 6 The Ills of the South, 

before the money is taken. By this method there 
is no such understanding. All the satisfaction the 
debtor can get is, he must pay certain prices. If 
the merchant has agreed to furnish him, it is suffi- 
cient for the farmer to know that he must pay these 
prices. Whether the prices are moderate, reason- 
able, unreasonable, exorbitant, or ruinous, does not 
concern the purchaser. It is a financial transaction 
which is as clear as the noonday sun to one party, 
the creditor, and as dark as a starless night to the 
other party, the debtor. Would that this statement 
were fiction instead of a hard, ugly fact! The pur- 
chaser is enveloped in mists. He travels in the 
dark twelve months in the year. He does not 
know whether he pays forty or a hundred per cent, 
profit. This is a secret not to be divulged. Human 
nature is weak. The power is all on one side, and 
the necessity for supplies, real or imaginary, on the 
other. The history of nineteen centuries has cer- 
tainly taught the world one impressive lesson, that 
power, wherever found, has seldom been sparing in 
its exercise. It is not in the nature of power, gen- 
erally speaking, to be merciful. It has not a tender 
heart. The milk of human charity comes not from 
this source. The power of this system is a subtle, 
expensive, crushing machinery. 

" Regard for * Number One,' " says Samuel Smiles, 
*' is the prevailing maxim. High profits are regarded 
as the summiini bomim — no matter how obtained, or 
at what sacrifice. Money is our god ; ' Devil take 
the hindmost,' our motto. The spirits of darkness 
rule supreme." 



The Credit System. 17 

" Mammon has led them on. 
Mammon, the least erect of all the spirits 
That fell from heaven." 

(2) The debtor is bound to the creditor when 
once he has commenced to make a purchase. If he 
has incurred a debt with one merchant, he can not 
readily get credit from another merchant. The 
reason is obvious. The risk under the system is 
great. No merchant cares to take a customer who 
is already in debt to another. If there is a mort- 
gage the transfer is attended with difficulties. The 
purchaser, as a rule, has no option. He is tied up 
under this peculiar plan. He may be dissatisfied 
with his merchant, whose prices may seem exorbi- 
tant ; he may have found a merchant whose terms 
are fairer, but if he is in debt, he is in no condition 
to make the change. The debt chains the farmer 
to the firm with whom he is trading. He can not 
buy where it suits him. The price asked is the only 
chance to get what he wants, even if that price 
amounts to confiscation. Blindly he must buy, if 
he buys at all. " Competition " is a word not found 
in the debtor's dictionary. " What power in civil- 
ized society," says Macaulay, *' is so great as that of 
the creditor over the debtor? " 

(3) Those who buy supplies under this system can 
not tell how much they have bought during the year 
until the cotton crop is delivered. It is believed to 
be true of 75 per cent. The only check to the mak- 
ing of purchases is upon the class of poor farmers 
whose property is small, and whose crop consists in 
a half-dozen bales of cotton. The limit is fixed at 



1 8 The Ills of the Soicth, 

$50, $75, or $100. When merchandise to the amount 
agreed upon has been bought, a halt to further 
advances is called. The merchant may not be 
blamed for refusing to extend the credit beyond 
the value of the expectant crop. No such limit is 
fixed for the man whose real estate is large, and 
whose personal property in the form of horses, 
mules, and cattle is ample. If the purchaser has a 
family of somewhat expensive tendencies, the ac- 
count at the end of the year will generally be larger 
than he expected. Upon what did the good, easy, 
careless man base his expectation? He kept no 
account of his purchases. In a vast number of 
cases, the bill, as it is commonly known, is called 
for in November and December of the year. The 
wail of merchants in January is generally, *' We 
have large balances to carry over for next year." 
The size of the crop, the price of cotton, and the 
purchases made, determine the size and the number 
of balances. Few are the years that from 50 per 
cent, to 75 per cent, of the farmers who thus bought 
supplies did not come out in debt to their mer- 
chants at the close of the year. These facts are 
gathered from conversations with many merchants 
and a large number of farmers. A slight improve- 
ment one year is reversed by an unfavorable crop 
year the next. The indefinite plan of purchasing, 
and ignorance of the amount bought until the cot- 
ton has been sold, is a fruitful source of disaster to 
the country. " Fifty per cent, of the people," said 
a prominent merchant in 1891, " in my section are 
in debt, and from 25 to 35 per cent, are not in an 



The Credit System, 19 

easy condition." This incubus still tyrannizes the 
people. This method is ruinous to any people. It 
is called business in the sense of trade and trans- 
actions. It is all certainty and definiteness so far 
as the items bought, and the footing up of the mer- 
chant's ledger are concerned, and it is all uncertainty 
and indefiniteness so far as the farmer is concerned. 
(4) The mode of doing business is the wicked 
foster-mother of much carelessness, and carelessness 
is not the basis of prosperity. It may be business 
to some people, but it has a greedy heart. " I 
haven't had a settlement," said a farmer of ordinary 
intelligence, "in six years." "Do you ask your 
merchant to make out your account at the end of 
the year?" "No! I sometimes ask him how we 
stand ; and when he says, ' You are all right,' I'm 
satisfied. I have done business with him for twenty 
years, and have never asked him for a bill." Confi- 
dence is on the rack! "Are there many in your 
neighborhood who never call for an account ? " "A 
right smart of them. The niggers never ask for a 
bill, and don't get it if they ask for it." Granting 
that all merchants arc honest, the poor, ignorant 
negro, as well as the careless white farmer, in the 
absence of a written statement, has no opportunity 
to examine his year's transactions for himself. That 
honest merchant may be an infidel as respects the 
Bible, but his faith in keeping accounts is extraor- 
dinary ; there is no flaw in this confidence. The 
amount of blind trusting he demands of these care- 
less, ignorant people, is immense. Infidelity here 
would impose a good deal of labor. Such manage- 



20 The Ills of the South, 

ment bodes no good to the country. Not one 
merchant in ten thousand would be willing to do 
business with other merchants in this way. Dishon- 
esty has the power to cheat and defraud in prices, in 
weights, and in measures, under such circumstances, 
with impunity. That the spirit of discontent should 
show itself, and the cry of " hard times " should be 
heard, ought not to surprise any one. ''There is no 
money in farming," says the planter. Certainly not, 
under such wild management. There is a big screw 
loose here, no matter how honest all parties may be. 
It is time to examine foundations. Silent and im- 
perceptible are the causes that undermine the pros- 
perity of a country. A magazine of explosives lies 
hid beneath this highly favored mode of business. 

(5) When all the cotton made during the year 
has been delivered and sold, and the farmer comes 
out in debt on the 31st of December, that farmer 
has taken the first step toward bankruptcy. If he is 
a small farmer, $25, $50, or $75 is a heavy burden 
to carry. Take these cases : Hezekiah Drawbridge 
owes $25 at the close of the year; his credit limit 
was $75. Stephen Goff owes $50 ; his credit limit 
was $150. Buff Tafton owes $75 ; his credit limit 
was $250. The year during which these debts were 
made was fairly good, the purchases were moderate, 
there was no sickness in these families. The follow- 
ing year similar credit arrangements are made, and 
they purchase the full amount agreed upon between 
them and their merchants. From some unaccount- 
able or accountable cause, the cotton crop is a little 
worse, or the price of cotton is a little less. The 



The Credit System. 21 

winding up of the second year's farm operations finds 
Drawbridge, Goff, and Tafton with the following 
debts confronting them, respectively: $65, $115, 
$155. The outlook is blue for these farmers, and 
they feel blue. Thus, or nearly thus, this system 
operates in thousands of cases. Each year the 
plunge into debt is deeper; each year the burden is 
heavier. The struggle is woe-begone. Cares are 
many, smiles are few, and the comforts of life are 
scantier. This is the bitter fruit of a method of 
doing business which comes to the farmer in the 
guise of friendship, but rules him with despotic 
power. To a large class of men, the inscription 
printed in large, bold characters over the door of 
the credit system is : '' The man who enters here 
leaves hope behind," and it tells a sad and sorrow- 
ful history. Anxious days, sleepless nights, deep 
wrinkles, gray hairs, wan faces, cheerless old age, 
and perhaps abject poverty make up, in part, the 
melancholy story. The bitter reflection about the 
whole matter is, that, as a general rule, there was 
no substantial cause for this result. 

(6) " A bad crop year, Mr. Tafton." " Mighty bad, 
mighty bad," replies Mr. Goff. ^* We are ruined. I 
reckon our merchants won't furnish us another year 
unless we give a mortgage on our land. I used to 
think that I would see any man in Halifax before 
I'd do that. It's come to that now, or starvation." 
The end of these men as freeholders is near at hand. 
Drawbridge, Goff, and Tafton, and their companions 
in misery, wear sad and long faces. On some dreary, 
cold day in December, when nothing can well be 



22 The Ills of the South, 

done on the farm, these men ride to town, each to 
execute that hard instrument called a mortgage, 
which in so many cases means ruin to themselves 
and their families. These ugly handcuffs are on, 
and they are hard to get off. This business method 
has peculiar attractions for these iron tools that 
chafe the flesh, but more the spirit. Independence! 
It is gone. Humiliation and dependence bow the 
head of the proud spirit. It is a rugged, thorny 
path these men must travel. A little earnest self- 
denial faithfully practiced for a few years, would 
have assured them ease, comfort, and competence. 

(7) Thus it is that not a few farmers in the South 
who held a fee-simple title to their property, lost all in 
ten years. They worshipped Moloch. Their adora- 
tion destroyed their independence, their self-respect, 
their lands, and their chattels. There are men who 
made an average of fifteen to twenty-five bales of 
cotton a year, owned from five to ten head of mules, 
and from five hundred to one thousand acres of land, 
with comfortable residences and all necessary out- 
houses, who found themselves homeless and poor at 
the end of ten years. There is a cause. It sleeps 
within the womb of this business arrangement. 
There must be an enormous abuse lurking some- 
where in these operations; it involves well-meaning 
and innocent men who keep no accounts, and, as a 
rule, apply no business principles to their farfn work 
or their expenses, in hopeless poverty. Neither the 
merchants alone, as a class, nor the farmers alone, 
as a class, are to blame for this state of things ; but 
the commercial contract, under whose articles they 



The Credit System, 23 



formed a joint copartnership to do business, deserves 
full and signal justice. It is a covenant to which the 
parties of the first part are thoroughly organized, 
thoroughly systematic in keeping accounts, thor- 
oughly acquainted with the cost and selling price of 
merchandise, and thoroughly informed as to their 
expenses. The parties of the second part are thor- 
oughly unorganized, thoroughly unsystematic, thor- 
oughly uninformed as to prices and as to their ability 
to pay them, thoroughly in the dark as to what their 
product will be or its price, and thoroughly in the 
dark as to their expense account. The parties to 
the covenant are unequally matched. System, ex- 
actness, power, and risks — risks, however, provided 
for by high prices, and often secured by liens— are 
on the one side ; general inexactness, weakness, and 
heavy burdens in the form of prices are on the 
other side. The most certain thing about the cove- 
nant is, that the parties of the second part must pay 
the parties of the first part a definite sum. The 
price of cotton, sugar, molasses, rice, tobacco.^ and; 
all other merchandise may fluctuate, but the debit, 
side of the ledger maintains its figures with, stub- 
born and relentless regularity. Hard times do. not 
affect them. Storms and inundations do not change 
them. These figures remain unscathed amid social 
and political convulsions. Sickness and death can. 
not discount them. Certainty and uncertainty have 
gone into copartnership as a basis for the country's 
prosperity. 

(8) The many risks incident to this business 
involve many bad debts. The honest man must 



24 The Ills of the South, 

pay the debts of the dishonest man. Merchant 
Harlem does a $100,000 credit business per year. 
He has 600 customers, who make 3,000 bales of 
cotton. Twenty per cent, of the customers are 
first-class men; 150 men are in fair condition — 
they are somewhat in debt. A reverse in their 
farm work, a bad crop year, or serious sickness in 
their families, will bring them at once to the dead- 
line where hope puts on its sickly hue. The 
remaining 250 obtain credit under a variety of con- 
ditions. That there should not be some rascals in 
this whole number, is as probable as that a cornfield 
should be without weeds. These bad debts, which 
ultimately may be charged up to profit and loss, 
will range from $1,000 to $5,000 per annum. This 
anticipated loss is considered when the selling price 
of the merchandise is marked. Were there no loss, 
the price would be less. Risk always raises the price 
,of commodities. Every honest man must help to 
pay \\\s pro rata of the bad man's debts. There is 
not a merchant in the South, selling goods on credit, 
whose losses from this source have not amounted 
to thousands of dollars. This burden must be borne 
by the purchaser. 

These are some of the ugly features of this busi- 
ness method. It has done much to debauch public 
sentiment. It has enslaved thousands of good 
people. It has brought about a state of depend- 
ence that reduces the great body of agricultural 
people to a condition of serfs, the name excepted. 
It deserves serious consideration. The situation is 
alarming to free men. It is no small matter that 



The Credit System, 25 

3,000,000 farmers should be dependent upon 10,000 
men. We blame not the merchant class. They 
have drifted into this channel, and have concluded 
there is no other way. Some like it, because, to 
them, it is a feast. This method of trading has 
lowered the tone of public morals. It is not a 
secret that perjury often walks the streets, un- 
whipped of justice. False swearing is common. 
Wealth obtained by dishonest means is respectable, 
and occupies a front seat on the dais — the seat of 
honor in the great temple of public sentiment; and 
that public sentiment, like a cracked bell, jangles 
out of tune. Robust honesty is still in the land, 
but it is timid and passive. It is shackled by envi- 
ronments. About 300 farmers are, on an average, 
at the mercy of one man. Year in and year out, for 
a quarter of a century, this submission has been 
endured. There is no money in the country, save 
during the winter months. All those who have 
dealings with the farming class, rendering to them 
valuable and necessary service, are involved in these 
impoverished circumstances. Enterprise is stunted. 
Progress is choked. Whatever is of the highest 
value to the country, relating to its material 
advancement, its intellectual and moral elevation, 
is depreciated and throttled by this ruinous method. 
A young merchant, who had amassed in five years 
some $8,000, expressed his interest in the country in 
terms quite in consonance with his belief and prac- 
tice. Farmer Haygood explained that he had not 
been able to bring more cotton to market on account 
of the impassable condition of the roads. Millwell, 



26 



The Ills of the South, 



the young merchant, rephed : *' I don't care a damn 
for the roads! I don't care a damn for the whole 
country, so you bring me the cotton and the 
coon-skins." 

The following table shows the property of thirteen 
Southern States in 1880. It will furnish food for 
reflection, and may throw light upon the circum- 
stances that have hampered the progress of the 
people : 

VALUATION OF PROPERTY IN 1880.* 



Virginia 

Wes;; Virginia . 
North Carolina 
Soutji Carolina 

Georgia 

Florida 

Alabama 

Mississippi 

Louisiana 

Texas 

Arkansas 

Kentucky 

Tennessee 

Total . . . . 



REAL ESTATE. 



$233,601,599 

105,000,306 

101,709,326 

77.461,670 

139,983,941 

18,885,151 

77,374,008 

79,469,530 

122,362,297 

205,508,924 

55,760,388 

265,085,908 

195,644,200 



$1,677,847,248 



PERSONAL 
PROPERTY. 



$741853,536 
34,622,399 
54,390,876 
56,098,465 
99,488,658 
12,053,158 
45,493,220 
31,158,599 
37,800,142 

114,855,591 
30,648,976 
85,478,063 
16,134,338 



$693,076,021 



$308,455,135 
139,622,705 
156,100,202 

i33v56o,i35 
239,472,599 

30,938,309, 
122,867,228 
^10,628,129 
160,162,439 
320,364,515 

86,409,364 
350,563,971 
211,778,538 



$2,370,923,269 



In i860 West Virginia was a part of Virginia. 
The valuation of property, real and personal, includ- 
ing slaves of these States in i860, was $5,868,209,- 
219. 

Suppose that the annual store accounts in these 
States from 1865 to 1890 were equal to $300,000,000. 
Let this sum represent the credit price, and that 
sum is 25 per cent, in advance on the cash price. 



Compendium, Tenth Census, Part II., p. 1508. 



The Credit System, 



Let this 25 per cent, cover not only the advance on 
cash prices, but all needless and extravagant pur- 
chases and all tricky transactions. This is a mod- 
erate average advance on the cash basis. 

Had the Southern people, by economy and self- 
denial, brought their business to a cash basis at the 
close of the year 1868, they would have saved 
annually this 25 per cent. The people in these 
thirteen States would have saved in one year, 8/5. - 
000,000 ; in ten years, $750,000,000 ; in twenty-five 
years, $1,775,000,000. This sum added to the prop- 
erty in 1890 would bring the valuation of all prop- 
erty in the thirteen States to within less than 
$2,000,000,000 of the status in i860. 

If these facts and figures do not convince the 
people of the pernicious and ruinous tendency of 
the business plan, what will? 

On the basis of this advance of 25 per cent, on 
the cash price, $500 worth of cotton pays 8400 
worth of supplies bought on credit. The supplies 
are worth $400 cash, but, as they were bought on 
credit, $100 must be added to secure these supplies 
on credit. 

The prosperity of the Southern people is very 
largely contingent on cash transactions and com- 
petition in business. 

As late as 1893 we found these prices still ruling 
the market on a necessary article of consumption, 
flour. From February to September the average 
price of flour in the city of St. Louis was, for 
Patent, sold under three fancy names, $3.35 ; for 
Majestic, sold under five fancy names, $3.09 ; 



28 The Ills of the South. 

for Extra Fancy Grade, sold under three fancy 
names, $3.00; for Fancy Grade, sold under three 
fancy names, $2.65 ; for Choice Grade, sold under 
three fancy names, $2.40; for Plantation Grade, 
sold under three fancy names, $2.30. These fancy 
names, such as Challenge, Capitol, and Lillian, 
represent the same grade of flour. Each merchant 
adopts the brand that suits his taste. As will be 
noticed, for six grades of flour there are twenty 
different names or brands. 

These quotations, a merchant assured us, were 
those of grocers. At the mills any grade of this 
flour can be bought at ten cents less, and perhaps 
fifteen cents less per barrel. Adding railroad freight, 
after deducting ten cents per barrel, to the last five 
grades, we have the following cost price at the point 
of delivery : Majestic, $3.91 ; Extra Fancy, $3.82 ; 
Fancy, 83-47 ; Choice, $3.22 ; Plantation, $3.12. 

This flour was sold on credit at $6.00 and $7.00 
per barrel. We will suppose that one of the first 
three grades was sold at this price. In this case 
the profit on the Majestic was 53 per cent. ; on the 
Extra Fancy, 57 per cent. ; on the Fancy, 72 per 
cent. Others paid $7.50 as per bill seen, credit 
price. The average cost of Patent flour was $4.17. 
According to this price the profit on Patent flour 
was 79 per cent. If this was the price on any of the 
other grades, the profit on Majestic was 91 per cent. ; 
on the Extra Fancy, 94 per cent. ; and on the Fancy, 
116. 

A cash merchant informed us that he had sold a 
grade of flour equal to the Majestic, from January 



The Credit System, 29 

to October, for $4.50 cash on an average, at a net 
profit of \2\ per cent. ; and that a farmer who 
bought his yearly supplies on a credit had paid for 
flour a grade below this at $6.00 per barrel. Had he 
bought for cash his flour would have cost him $4.29!. 
He would have saved 44^ per cent. This is the 
difference between cash and credit prices. On 
10,000 barrels of flour of this grade the farmers 
would save on a cash basis $17,025. 

It is probable that the same difference between 
cash and credit prices rules the market in regard to 
dry goods, domestics, sheeting, prints, shoes, hats, 
hardware, agricultural implements, ready-made cloth- 
ing, and all the commodities usually bought by 
farmers at a general supply store. A friend informed 
the writer that he bought floor matting at a strictly 
cash store for 16 cents per yard ; for the same grade 
of matting, the price was, in a town where credit 
prices prevail, in one store, 25 cents, and in another, 
30 cents per yard. These were cash prices in a 
place where the bulk of business is transacted on a 
credit basis. This means that the cash price of this 
article in the credit town was 56:^ per cent, in one 
store, and 8/1 per cent in the other store, in advance 
of the cash price of this article in the cash town. 
A lady informed the writer that she bought flannel 
for \2\ cents per yard, and a friend of hers bought 
the same flannel for 35 cents per yard on credit. On 
this article the credit price is 180 per cent, in 
advance of the cash price. If each of one hundred 
persons buys eight yards of flannel at \2\ cents per 
yard, cash, the cost to the one hundred persons will 



The Ills of the South. 



be $100. If the same number of persons purchase 
the same number of yards of this article on a credit, 
the cost will be $280. 

The remedy for this state of things is severe 
economy, earnest self-denial, and a fixed determina- 
tion to buy for cash. Two years of self-denial and 
economy will enable the majority of the Southern 
white people to buy on a cash basis. 

Mr. of Mississippi, a merchant, commenced 

business with $500. He sold all goods at an advance 
of ten per cent, on the cost price, freight added. 
When we formed his acquaintance, and were his 
guest for two days, he was the owner of five stores. 
In 1878 he sold in one of these stores, during the 
months of January, February, March, and April, 
$20,000 for cash. This town had no factory, no 
special industry on a large scale, that distributed 

money among the people. Mr. was eminently 

successful as a merchant. He was a thoroughly 
conscientious Christian gentleman. His pastor — a 
gentleman widely known in the South as a Christian 

minister and as an author — said to us : " Mr. 

never advertises in the usual style in the town 
newspaper, but every few weeks he publishes a price 
list, cash, of various commodities — as much as will 
fill a column in the paper. His representations are 
true, and no clerk is permitted to deviate from these 
prices for that week." He prospered, and benefited 
the people. 

I asked a prominent lawyer how many first-class 
lawyers — men standing at the head of their profes- 
sion in the State — had been able to lay aside, during 



The Credit Syste7n. 31 

twenty-five years of toil, ten thousand dollars? 
*' They can be easily counted," was the reply. The 
great majority make a moderate living. The same 
is true of physicians, and of professors in institutions 
of learning. The governor of the State, the justices 
of the supreme court, judges of circuit and chan- 
cery courts, and other officers of trust and responsi- 
bility, make a bare living. Ministers of the gospel, 
no matter what their talents or their service may 
be, are proverbially poorly paid. Yet all these 
exalted vocations in life not only demand talents of 
a high order and superior aptitude, but require 
years of expensive literary and technical education. 

The skilled mechanic, after serving an apprentice- 
ship of four years, and in some instances longer, makes 
a living. Be the industry what it may, be the voca- 
tion in life, however exalted, however responsible, 
however great the preparation essential to fill it 
worthily, outside of the charmed circle of trade 
the compensation rarely exceeds a modest living. 
Often it means a miserably pinched living. Of the 
farming class this is the sum : a few are out of 
debt, and struggle to keep their heads above water, 
and live fairly well, but on an economical basis ; the 
majority are in debt, and the prospect is, that a large 
number are hopelessly involved. 

Five thousand dollars invested in trade, even if 
half is borrowed money, has a far better chance to 
make in a few years twenty-five thousand, fifty 
thousand, and a hundred thousand dollars, than has 
five thousand dollars in preparing for any of the 
learned professions, or invested in a farm, to make a 



32 The Ills of the South, 

meagre living. Survey the field of human industry 
in the Southern States, and the fact is everywhere 
patent, emphasized in every vocation and calling 
of life, that there is no general prosperity. In 
large cities there are no doubt some prosperous 
physicians and lawyers, and prosperous men in 
other callings of life. It is not so in the country 
at large. 

There should be no hostility between the mer- 
chant class, the farming class, and all other classes. 
But this business method is not only bringing bank- 
ruptcy to the farmers, but practically and really it 
is damaging the just and reasonable interest of all 
other classes, since, in a great agricultural commu- 
nity, the professions and mechanics are largely the 
servants of the farming class. 

An alarming state of affairs has impressed its die 
in recent months upon the attention of the country. 
When people are prosperous, they have neither the 
time nor the disposition to engage in lawlessness. 
Men who can not see afar off, moving in a narrow 
circle, toiling hard, discouraged, despondent, in debt, 
the farm under mortgage, ruin and poverty staring 
them in the face, are easily led into desperate meas- 
ures, and that to their own undoing. But little sun- 
shine streams into their lives. The situation of the 
country, view it as we may, is serious. 



CHAPTER III. 

THE LIEN LAW MACHINE. 

" Worth makes the man, and want of it the fellow; 
The rest is all but leather or prunello." — Pope. 

TTHE progress of Southern farmers to secure 
an ordinary competency is very slow. We 
refer to that class who own their land, from lOO 
to 2,000 or 3,000 acres. These landowners, pro- 
vided with necessary live stock, are struggling to 
make a living. Capital amounting to $500 and 
$5,000, with personal labor added, is not remunera- 
tive on the farm. It pays no interest in a majority 
of instances. The investment itself is in danger. 
The product on thousands of farms has not been 
sufficient to pay the annual expense account. What 
then ? A part of the property, real or personal, 
or both, must make up the difference between the 
income of the farm and its expenses. A good 
crop may cancel this balance, but this is a rare 
occurrence. The general rule is, the balance is 
increased until a part of the land, or all of it, adjusts 
the claim. It is history to-day, that farms of every 
dimension, all over the South, and the live stock, 
with the products raised on these farms, have barely 
enabled the occupants to live. In other words, in 
many instances the farms, horses, mules, and cattle, 
3 



34 The Ills of the South, 

personal labor of the owners, and the general prod- 
ucts raised, were required to pay the expense bill. 
Ten years made these men homeless. 

A still larger number, whose condition is not so 
bad, are toiling year after year, but can not reach the 
point to buy supplies for cash. They are always a 
year behind. Every year they are contending with 
risks. Storms, a drought, a rainy season, a bad crop 
year generally, inefficient labor, low price of cotton, 
high prices incident to this method of doing busi- 
ness, extravagance in buying, are all ugly contin- 
gencies. Many a sorrowful experience will recognize 
these elements in the business problem. To secure 
supplies next year, security may be demanded in 
view of the risk to be taken. The following year, 
affairs on the farm may be worse still. 

It is certain the farming community of the South 
is not in a prosperous condition. What are the 
causes ? Is it extravagant living ? Are the prices 
too high? Is the cotton crop too large — the supply 
greater than the world's demand ? Is it the labor 
system ? These, and other elements, enter the 
problem. Some of them are generic, affecting the 
common condition of the people ; others are indi- 
vidual in their nature. Spending more than the 
income is not a common fault, but it has brought 
disaster to thousands. " I can not afford it," is 
easily said ; but it takes courage and wisdom to ac£ 
upon it. 

It is proposed to consider one of the general 
causes that have led to this impoverished condition 
of the Southern farmers. We believe there is no 



The Lien Law Machine. 35 

substantial consideration why affairs should remain 
as they are. There is a cause which underlies the 
evil. If it be real, remove it. We believe, with 
Pope : " Worth makes the m.an, and want of it 
the fellow." A higher value placed on integrity, 
a healthier moral sentiment in reference to right- 
doing, and the bestowal of confidence where it is 
deserved, would bring us back to the natural chan- 
nels of trade. Cash business is, in the main, a neces- 
sity for the great body of the people. They can not 
conduct business on principles whose operations 
they do not understand, and which make success to 
secure a decent living well-nigh hopeless. 

Deeds of trust have largely retarded the progress 
of the people. In one way or another they have 
hindered financial prosperity. The man who thus 
involved himself, whether he gave a Hen on his land, 
his live stock, his prospective crop, or on all com- 
bined, was bolted to a hard condition. In not a few 
cases, economy in buying was not the rule. The 
prices paid for his supplies were high — so high that 
he could not afford to make the purchases. Had 
cash trade been the rule, many articles which he 
bought on credit would not have been bought on a 
cash basis, unless the price was far different. Both 
considerations, the absence of economy and the 
high prices generally, made the expense account of 
this class greater than the income. 

The inefficient and unmanageable negro labor, 
soon after the war, involved Southern farmers 
deeper in debt than they were involved in 1865. 
Lien laws were enacted in all the Southern States 



36 The Ills of the South, 

to help this class of men, as well as the negroes. 
The humane intent of these laws was to furnish a 
basis of credit. The man who had land could give 
a lien on that. Those who had live stock only 
could get their year's supplies on this security. 
Those who had neither land nor live stock could 
rent land and a mule, and could give a lien on the 
prospective crop to secure the landowner, and the 
merchant for the goods bought. This last lien 
enabled the negroes to be independent of the white 
man's supervision. 

No legislator could foresee the practical opera- 
tions of these laws. One of the first effects was 
to derange negro labor. He was desirous to be 
to himself ; to get away from his former master ; to 
feel that all the old relations of a former condition 
were destroyed forever. This was natural. Whether 
it was wise in the negro to be his own manager, and 
act upon his own responsibility, is another question. 
The negroes had everything to learn, and the dis- 
position to learn and be directed was wanting. 
The truth is, the old master was the negro's best 
friend and safest adviser. Unfortunately, the 
negroes as a class were far more disposed to listen 
to the stranger than to the old master. 

Prior to the enactment of these laws, some negroes 
worked on the wage plan. The number that worked 
in this way, as far as our observations and inquiries 
extend, was small at any time since the war. It 
never met with much favor among the negroes. 
It involved too much regularity as to the hours 
of work, and too much direction on the part of the 



The Lien Law Machine, 37 

employer as to how to do the work. It was irksome. 
The semblance of the old slavery regime was in this 
plan. The negroes thought so. The wages were 
graded according to general efficiency and indus- 
try. It was difficult to make them understand 
why one negro's work was worth eight dollars a 
month, and another's ten dollars. The employer 
furnished everything under this plan, and assumed 
all responsibility for supplies bought of the mer- 
chant. 

The share plan was a favorite with the negroes. 
They were their own managers. The employer 
furnished the land, the mule, and necessary farm 
tools. He was responsible to the merchant for the 
supplies furnished the share worker. He generally 
received half the cotton and corn made by the 
negro. The corn was in many cases less than the 
quantity furnished by the employer and consumed 
by the plow animal during the year. 

How did this plan work ? Generally speaking, 
it neither benefited the negro nor the white farmer. 
The reason is plain. As soon as the negro became 
his own manager, his industrial qualities declined in 
value. Besides, he generally managed affairs badly. 
We speak of them as a class, and not of the excep- 
tional good and successful negro farmers — a small 
number at best. The negro under this plan gave 
little attention to the corn crop. He raised no 
meat. The result of the year's work proved that 
his half of the cotton was not sufficient to pay the 
store account. The balance due the merchant was 
paid by the employer. The employer, already in 



38 The Ills of the Soitth. 

debt, and unable to pay his annual store account, 
in time lost part or all his land. 

In various localities in every State, merchants 
came into possession of many farms. Some mer- 
chants had a strong hankering to become large land- 
owners. It exalted them in the estimation of the 
world to be the possessors of 50,000, 100,000, and 
500,000 acres of land. By indirect means, the aim 
was to get possession of land. What revelations 
this policy has to make, is in the future. Some 
merchants took land because they could not help 
themselves. Other merchants so conducted their 
business that the necessity to take land was firmly 
resisted. 

Before the lien laws were enacted, and before they 
were used as a basis of credit, thousands of farmers 
in every Southern State had already largely increased 
their debt obligations to merchants. At that period 
in Southern history, had no lien laws been enacted, 
and had all credit business been reduced to one-tenth 
of what it was annually, the whole South would now 
be solvent and prosperous. It would have entailed 
some suffering, but no one would have starved. 
Such an economic policy would have been of untold 
value to the negroes. 

Under the operations of this system of business 
and these laws, merchants in various localities 
became large landowners. It was quite natural that 
they should desire to utilize these lands. What 
they did, other men similarly situated would have 
done. These merchants became competitors with 
the farmer. Each desired to make the industry 



The Lien Law Machine, 



a success. There can be no question that the 
merchant, or any other class of men, had just as 
much right to own land and to cultivate that land, 
and to employ negro labor or white labor, as the 
farmer. On general principles it was a mistake. 
Wherever this was done, bitter rivalry between the 
resident farmer and the merchant Jarmer of the 
town ensued. All things in love and war are fair, 
is a falsehood. Modes of procedure may be legally 
right, yet they are not always expedient. They 
may, in this instance, damage the common interest 
of the seller and the buyer. 

The practical working of this new plan may be 
profitably illustrated. Mr. A., a merchant, owns 
one hundred farms. He proposes to cultivate these 
places on the share or rent plan. In no case, under 
these circumstances, does he employ hands for 
wages. The risk is too great, and supervision is 
impossible. In some instances land is sold, mostly 
to negroes ; here and there to white men. He does 
a furnishing business. He provides them with plow 
stock and farming implements, if necessary; also 
with bread and meat and clothing. This will be 
severely allowanced by the crop prospect., And 
this bread and meat supply, it is claimed by those 
who have the opportunity to know the facts, is 
less, in many instances, than the necessity of hun- 
ger demanded. The merchant is not to be blamed 
for refusing to furnish a man more than he is able 
to pay. The method of working farms in certain 
localities is under consideration, and not men. The 
purposes of men may be fair, yet the principles 



40 The Ills of the Sotith. 

upon which they act may prove disastrous to the 
general welfare. These men — the one hundred — are 
the customers of this merchant. Liens of one sort 
or another bind these people to him. What they 
make on these farms is practically his. 

Where these one hundred farms of the merchant 
are located are two hundred places owned by resi- 
dent white farmers. Some of them are in debt to 
the same merchant, with no prospect of getting out 
of debt. The demand for security, if other supplies 
are asked for, is only a question of time. Some are 
already under mortgage. Others are in debt, but it 
is held in bounds. It is manageable. They are not 
in easy circumstances — somewhat pinched in home 
comforts. They jog along as best they can. They 
are hampered, restless, and dissatisfied when work 
goes generally awry. They know there is a screw 
loose somewhere, but what screw is it ? They know 
that they are not prosperous— they are barely keep- 
ing- their own. A few of the two hundred are free. 
They are out of debt. The number is exceeding 
small. The circumstances of some of these are very 
favorable, and the others live hard, save every dime, 
and are chiefly concerned with hoarding their money 
for the sake of hoarding. The miserly disposition of 
this very small class is the warp and woof of their 
lives. 

With this location of the tenants of the merchant 
farmer, and the resident white farmers, we are pre- 
pared to consider some of the fruitage resulting 
from this condition. It is a condition made pos- 
sible by the lien laws of the country. Without 



The Lien Law Machine. 41 

them, the merchant farmer would lose his grip on 
his tenants. Neither he, nor any other man in his 
senses, would attempt to operate farms in this 
way, unless lien laws placed property, real and per- 
sonal, and the crop, under his control. It is a com- 
mon opinion, that the tenants on the places of the 
merchant farmers fare worse, upon the whole, than 
those working for resident farmers. The attraction 
of the negro tenant for these places is, that he is 
lord of all he surveys on his farm. He is the sole 
master of his time, work, and management. 

The results of these peculiar local circumstances 
born of lien laws may be briefly summed up: 

I. One of the first effects of the attempt of mer- 
chant farmers entering into competition with resi- 
dent farmers in the farming industry, is the difficulty 
on the part of the latter to secure labor. The mer- 
chant with a big store appeared, in the estimation 
of the negro, a rich man. The white farmer by 
comparison was poor, and himself dependent upon 
this rich merchant for supplies. The negro prefers 
the rich man to the poor man. The negro never 
had much regard for *' poor white trash." The mer- 
chant had the vantage ground in securing labor. 
Practically, the merchant embarrassed the debt- 
ridden farmer. It was not so intended, but it 
operated in this way. 

Then there was a charm in being his own boss on 
the merchant's place. This was a large inducement 
to the negro. One landowner lived in town, the 
other in the country. Supervision of work gave 
the tenant no annoyance on a place whose owner 



42 The Ills of the Sottth. 

lived in town. Poor farming and poor products 
followed. 

Another incident of this plan was the occasional 
unfair means used to get labor. " Decoy ducks " 
were used. The " boss idea " always pleased the 
negro. Other plausible considerations, such as 
becoming a freeholder, were employed ; so that it 
happened, here and there, that a negro would leave 
the place of the resident farmer, when his labor was 
m.ost needed, giving no other reason than that he 
wanted to leave, or that a " spell had been put on 
him by some other negro, making him dissatisfied." 
His contract, and the loss sustained by his leaving, 
had no effect to change his purpose. All this was 
galling to the country people. 

2. The labor on merchant farms demoralized the 
labor on places of resident farmers. Discipline and 
regular industry among the negroes are, at best, 
declining in value. This plan introduced a new ele- 
ment of danger and confusion. The negroes on the 
merchants' places enjoyed and took great privileges. 
They worked when they pleased ; they visited when 
they pleased ; they rode to meetings and everywhere 
else, by day and by night, when they pleased ; and 
they enjoyed this lazy, slipshod mode of life to their 
hearts' content. It had the spice of Africa in it. It 
did not stop here. They taunted the negroes on 
places of resident farmers, who did not follow their 
idle and vagrant example, as '* black niggers that 
didn't have sense enough to be free," and other 
expressions of scurrilous import. This conduct did 
the damage to the farming people in these localities. 



The Lien Law Machine. 43 

The resident farmer saw in this state of things a 
big screw loose. Not a few had less than half the 
number of negroes that they could provide with land. 
The worst feature was, those they had were demor- 
alized by the labor on merchant places. To control 
them was a difficult thing. To get work out of 
them was a task. The danger of losing even these 
inferior laborers was great. Patience was worn 
threadbare. Other resident farmers, with land and 
live stock sufficient for twenty and more hands, 
could not secure a single negro laborer. They 
folded their arms in black despair. The situation 
of these men, burdened with debt, the property of 
not a few covered with mortgages, with an insuffi- 
cient complement of labor, and that not controllable, 
and in some cases no labor at all, was as blue as 
indigo. They were crippled in their work and their 
prospects by the very men into whose coffers they 
poured every dollar made on the farm. It is not 
charged that this was done intentionally. What 
was the remedy? Men were at sea without a com- 
pass. Ruin never before looked so much like ruin 
as these circumstances plainly prophesied to the 
farmers thus situated. 

3. This purpose on the part of merchants to 
cultivate farms obtained under the credit system, 
and the lien laws of the country, waked up bitter 
memories. The application is to individuals. The 
effect refers to many. To illustrate : Mr. Henry, a 
farmer, was in debt to his merchant S3»ooo. This 
debt was the result of balances carried over for 
years. The farm owned by Henry was cheap at 



44 The Ills of the South, 

$5,000. After much discussion and hard feeling, 
the merchant bought the place for $3,500. The old 
account and a small place valued at $400 and $100 
cash closed the transaction. Thus ends this matter, 
but not so the consequences in the years to come. 

Time passed on. The parents were dead, and the 
children were scattered in various parts of the coun- 
try. Patrick, the youngest son, occupied the little 
place received in exchange with the merchant's 

account for the old homestead. Mr. , a near 

neighbor, incidentally remarked one day to a group 
of friends, that the Henry place cost in actual 
cash $i,ooc. Be this as it may, Patrick, now a 
married man, heard of the report. He was desirous 
to rent the place, and, if possible, buy it. 

His father's merchant was still doing business in 
the same town. Patrick offered to rent it, so did 
Black John, one of the old Henry negroes. Eight 
bales of cotton was the rental. Patrick offered nine 
bales, but Black John got it for eight. Patrick was 
an energetic, intelligent young farmer. Such, in 
substance, was the information imparted to us. 

The old homestead was on the same road, and a 
few miles distant from the little farm where Patrick 
lived. Here was material for thought. The legal 
aspect of the transaction cannot be questioned. 
But something is due to circumstances, to associa- 
tions, to those tender ties that give aroma to life. 
" My mother's bedroom," said the young man, " is 
now occupied by father's carriage-driver. Had he 
but rented the place to any other man, white or 
black, I would not feel so outraged. I have good 



The Lien Law Machine, 45 

feeling for our old servant Black John ; but I can 
not separate myself from the endearing associations 
of my parental home. The very mention of father, 
mother, brothers, and sisters calls up sacred memo- 
ries, and these cluster about my birthplace. Why 
was my offer to rent the homestead so rudely 
rejected?" It is hoped that such cases are rare. 
The sympathy of the community was with that 
young man. The feelings of the people were 
smouldering. These are bitter memories. 

4. Another effect showed itself in many depre- 
dations. These tenants fared no better than other 
tenants in making a living — rather worse. As a 
class they were often hard pressed for food. In 
such case *' mine and thine " were ignored. Shoats, 
sheep, young cattle, and poultry were common prey. 
The corncrib and the potato-bank, if accessible, 
were not sacred objects to a hungry stomach. Ten 
tenants, we were informed, representing 30 persons, 
made 30 bales of cotton and 500 bushels of corn. 
They raised no potatoes, or next to none, and no 
meat. Half of the cotton and corn belonged to the 
landowner. The remainder paid for the supplies 
furnished during the year. Fifty-two dollars will 
not suffice to buy food and clothing for three per- 
sons to each tenant on an average. 

It is not meant that the condition of all tenants of 
this class was this bad, nor yet that that of the ten- 
ants with resident farmers was much better ; but that 
this peculiar plan of renting land to negroes without 
supervision, means poor crops, especially food crops. 
And poor crops lead to stealing. Why should the 



46 The Ills of the South. 

people be deluded with the idea that this sort of 
management can promote the prosperity of the 
country? The poor negro is not benefited, and 
the foundation is laid for trouble. 

5. Thievery among negroes, if not the cause, has 
been the occasion, of much violence. It is difficult 
to appreciate the situation. Honest men that 
work hard to make a living, and fail in so many 
instances to make ends meet, and then have the 
little they make, stolen, are certainly annoyed be- 
yond endurance. 

6. With these environments, the two hundred 
farmers have an uphill business, in these localities, 
at farming. If they were encouraged by sympathy 
and generous interest, unmixed with selfish consid- 
erations, it is firmly believed that the result would 
benefit them, the negroes, and the general trade. 
So much for the bad effects of lien laws in various 
localities. 

It is our purpose now to examine some of the 
effects of these laws on the general condition of the 
farming class in the South. A level-headed man 
remarked in our presence, *' Had I the money, and 
did I wish to enter the mercantile business, and 
wished to make money fast, I w^ould choose the fur- 
nishing business on the credit plan ; but if I wanted 
to do an honest, straightforward business, I would 
sell for cash." 

The credit system is a step generally toward lien 
laws. Either one enslaves; the latter intensifies the 
condition. Whenever the danger point is reached, 
these laws are sure to be invoked. Were these laws 



The Lien Law Machine. 47 

repealed, the furnishing business would soon come 
to a dead halt in thousands of cases. Economy and 
freedom would in a few years take the place of 
extravagance, credit prices, and slavery. Whatever 
kindness may be in these methods, it is dearly 
bought. It certainly does look, from all the experi- 
ence of the past, that this plan of buying on long 
time, secured by liens, is the very best means to re- 
main poor all the days of one's life. This method 
as a whole keeps a man poor, wrecks his peace of 
mind, makes him old before his time, and destroys 
his independence. He can not trade where he 
pleases, if he has agreed to do business with a 
given merchant. Besides, in the course of years, 
he is bound to suffer more or less humiliation. 
If this is not a mean bondage, what is? When 
shall the delusion that this state of things is neces- 
sary, be broken ? 

*' The furnishing business is the prettiest business 
in the world." This was said in our presence, and, 
we are sure, with no bad motive. It is repeated 
here to show how fascinating this method of selling 
merchandise is to some minds ; what a hold it has 
on the life purpose. This liking to sell on credit is 
the strong fortress that must be stormed. There 
must be a cause for it. If the merchant likes to sell 
his wares in this way, the difficulty to induce a 
certain class of men to buy frequently what they 
don't need, and more frequently what they can not 
afford to buy, is not great. This way of buying 
needless things has made a big gash in the solvent 
condition of the farmer. The buyer must put on 



48 The Ills of the South, 

big brakes on his wants. This is one healthy step in 
the right direction. The heavier the load, the more 
important to put on brakes. So ought it to be with 
men in debt. A seedy coat is more honorable than 
a debt incurred by extravagance, high living, and 
heedless buying. 

But what is it that is pretty about the furnishing 
business? Five hundred men tied up to do business 
with one man ! So hampered that they can not do 
business with any other merchant during the year ! 
Forced to pay long-time prices ! Is this condition 
a beautiful and healthy state of affairs to these 
men ? It may be beautiful to the merchant, but 
not to the men who dine on a crust, and, toiling 
hard through winter's cold and summer's heat, are 
poor. Let us call it, rather, the bondage business. 
In a certain company of gentlemen the remark was 
made, that slavery in the Southern States was dead 

forever. '' It is a mistake," said Mr. . '' I have 

eight hundred men who do my bidding ; they can 
not do as they please. If I say, ' Plant cotton,' 
they plant cotton." It was an ungracious remark ; 
it expressed a great deal too much. A business 
that imposes such conditions is indeed beautiful, but 
only to one class of men. 

This mode of business relegates honesty to an 
inferior position. It is certainly true of all those 
whose property is under liens. Doubt as to their 
good faith, and perhaps their ability to pay for their 
year's supplies, inspired the requirement of a lien. 
If this fear is real, that this class of people will buy 
more than they can pay for, why deal with them? 



The Lie7i Law Machine, 49 

Would not a refusal to sell them goods prove a 
blessing in the long run ? Why help improvident 
men to rob themselves of their property ? Is not 
this the sad route hundreds have taken ? The fact 
that the act of assuming such obligations is volun- 
tary does not shift the responsibility, in part, at 
least, of those who can foresee the usual disastrous 
result. But what about the honest customers who 
are not tied up in this way ? Of what use is the 
well-tested honesty of any man, the moment he 
asserts his freedom ? He trades with B a few 
months, buying, of course, on credit. Merchant C 
suits him better. Will C sell him on time, after he 
had begun to trade with B ? Suppose C does 
furnish him, will not B complain, demand a settle- 
ment or security, ox bring suit ? The gravamen of 
such a transaction has nothing to do with the men 
concerned in it, but with this bondage business. 
The rights of the parties are not under considera- 
tion. The man that furnishes supplies may be in 
the right, and the buyer in the wrong. The point is 
not what each party ought to do when such a con- 
tract has been formed, but the object is to show 
results — fruitage. The man is not free, and the 
most robust honesty is often not worth the paper 
on which it is written. Honesty is relegated to the 
background. The credit obligations and the lien 
laws are everywhere pushed to the front. 

The strange part about it is, that Anglo-Saxon 

freemen have for so many years, and so patiently, 

submitted to this galling yoke. The men who say 

this yearly debt system can not be reversed, forget 

4 



50 The Ills of the South. 

the period from 1861 to 1865. Half the self-denial 
then practiced, now applied for a few years, will 
assure a healthy, prosperous condition. Best of all, 
it will bring independence. Conquer this deadly, 
unseen foe to Southern prosperity. 

" By no means run in debt ; take thine own measure. 
Who can not live on twenty pound a year, 
Can not on forty ; he's a man of pleasure, 
A kind of thing that's for itself too dear." 

But it is fashionable to run in debt — to live beyond 
the income. Style must be kept up. To live eco- 
nomically, to lay up something for a wet day, and to 
pay as you go, are safe virtues, and very honorable. 
*' But what will Mrs. Grundy say?" Her opinion is 
harmless. Is it fashionable to beg — to humble one's 
self in the dust, to submit to possible indignities, to 
cringe and fawn, to assume unbearable burdens, vol- 
untarily to go into a copartnership with sorrow — 
and at last to leave the family in want and sore 
distress? 

These lien laws have been the occasion of many 
unscrupulous transactions. Fair-minded, straight- 
forward dealers, in large number, have not abused 
these instruments ; but rascality has feasted on the 
opportunity. Signatures have been forged to notes ; 
figures altered. A pound avoirdupois, according to 
the black code, contains 12 ounces, and a yard, 25 
inches. Poor nigger! Poor, ignorant white man! 
How you have suffered at the hands of the Philis- 
tines ! Meanness, trickery, and fraud have had full 
sweep at many an unfortunate victim. 

Have these laws done no good ? Their original 



The Lien Law Machine. 5 1 

intent was kind. There is too much arithmetic in 
these instruments. Most men are not well up in 
figures. They can not calculate the long, rough 
road to be travelled. They cannot see the end to 
which they lead. They start in a fog, and end in a 
fog. They levy a tax on idleness, on extravagance, 
and on rascality. They are generally in printed 
form. How many interlineations have been made 
between the lines, that were not agreed upon ? They 
have not benefited the negroes, and what good have 
they done to the white people? Had they never 
been formulated in the Southern States, not a man 
would have starved to death. The canons of trade 
would not have been subverted. These laws have 
done '' good by stealth ; the rest is history." 

They have placed a discount on all other services 
— services of the highest value to society. Do the 
blacksmith and wheelwright take a lien on the prop- 
erty of the farmer for work done? No ! these men 
take their chances, or sell their account to the mer- 
chant that holds the lien at a discount of 10 or 20 
percent. But this depends upon circumstances. If 
this is done, the farmer pays the discount, and 10 
per cent, on the face value of the account. The sad- 
dler and buggy-maker either take their chances, or 
dispose of their bills to the lien holder upon similar 
terms. The other industries fare no better. The 
preachers take their chances absolutely. With them 
it is all honor ; no '^ deed and trust " for them. The 
physicians, riding through pelting rainstorms, by 
night and day, take even chances with the other 
unfortunates whose interests were not considered 



52 The Ills of the Soicth. 

when these so-called anaconda laws were enacted. 
These classes have managed to get along without 
these securities. Why make the distinction ? Why- 
place every calling in life at a disadvantage ? Why 
not give the large farming class a lien on the prop- 
erty of merchants to secure fair dealing ? The great 
body of honest merchants would not do this, and the 
great body of honest farmers would not ask it. There 
ought to be some kind of protection. A lien implies 
distrust. If distrust is honorable in the one case, 
why should it be dishonorable in the other case? 

But these are not parallel caseso What is the 
difference, as a matter of simple justice, between 
the dealer that furnishes fifty dollars* worth of pro- 
visions to a man, and the physician that renders 
fifty dollars' worth of valuable service to the same 
man ? The lien holder, protected, covers the man 
with distrust ; the physician, by force of necessity, 
exercises confidence, and takes his chances in hope. 
Put all men on the same footing. Strike these laws 
from the statutes of every State, or greatly modify 
them. Make it difficult for a man to get off his 
estate by this piece of machinery. 

Under the treacherous operations of these laws, 
farmers involved themselves in debt, gave security 
on their estates when cotton was selling at 30, 25, 
20, 15, and 10 cents per pound. They bought land, 
horses, and merchandise when the great Southern 
staple brought a high price. Everything else was 
high. Interest accumulated year by year. A steady 
pressure was kept on cotton production. Grain 
growing and meat raising were neglected. The 



The Lien Law Machine. 53 

increase of the cotton crop pressed down its price. 
Now, when cotton is down to 7 cents, the attempt 
to pay old debts incurred when the price of cotton 
ruled at 15, 12, and 10 cents, is an herculean task. 
Many farmers are hopelessly ruined. Who is respon- 
sible for this desperate state of affairs? Not the 
merchant nor the farmer, but this subtle relief 
device, the lien laws, and the annual credit supply 
business. This system brings sad experience to one 
class of men, and gold to another class. 



CHAPTER IV. 

COTTON PRODUCTION. 

Some years ago the Legislature of Massachusetts made a law 
requiring that children of a certain age, employed in the factories of 
that State, should be sent to school a certain number of weeks in the 
year. While visiting the factories to ascertain whether this wise 
provision of the State government was complied with, an officer of 
the State inquired of the agent of one of the principal factories at 
New Bedford, whether it was the custom to do anything for the 
physical, intellectual, or moral welfare of the work people. The 
answer would not have been out of place in the captain of a coolie 
ship : " We never do ; as for myself, I regard my work people as I 
regard my machinery. They must look out for themselves, as I do 
for myself." — William Mathews, LL.D. 

/^UR business system has regarded the people 
^^very much the same way. Capital calls no halt 
in the race for gain. The general prosperity of the 
people — their welfare — is not the question. Progress 
is measured by the aggregate capital of the few. 
There are said to be fifty millionaires in the South. 
What about the 18,000,000? Comparisons maybe 
odious, but they often convey alarming truths. It 
takes 360,000 people to make one millionaire. 

Mr. Henry W. Grady in an address to the young 
men of a Southern university, in 1889, said : *' Our 
great wealth has brought us profit and splendor, but 
the status itself is a menace. A home that costs 



Cotton Production, 55 

$3,000,000, and a breakfast that costs $5,000, are 
disquieting facts to the millions who live in a hut 
and dine on a crust. The fact that a man ten years 
from povert)^ has an income of $20,000,000, and his 
two associates nearly as much, from the control and 
arbitrary pricing of an article of universal use, falls 
strangely on the ears of those who hear it, as they 
sit empty-handed, while children beg for bread. 
Economists have held that wheat grown everywhere 
could never be cornered by capital. And yet one 
man in Chicago tied the wheat crop in his hand- 
kerchief, and held it until a sewing woman in my 
city, working for 90 cents a week, had to pay him 20 
cents tax on the sack of flour she bore home in her 
famished hands. Three men held the cotton crop 
until the English spindles were stopped, and the 
lights went out in 3,000,000 English homes. Last 
summer, one man cornered pork until he had levied 
a tax of $3 per barrel on every consumer, and pock- 
eted a profit of millions. The Czar of Russia would 
not have dared do these things. And yet they are 
no secrets in this free government of ours ! They 
are known of all men ; and my countrymen, no argu- 
ment can follow them, and no plea excuse them^ when 
they fall on the men who, toiling, yet suffer ; who 
hunger at their work, and who can not find food 
for their wives with which to feed the infants that 
hang famishing at their breasts." 

These may be regarded as pessimistic views, but 
the hard facts of the condition of the two great fac- 
tors, capital and labor, are alarm signals. 

The New Orleans Daily Picayune of June 27, 



56 The Ills of the South. 

in its comments on the address of Mr. Grady, shows 
clearly and tersely the end to which this condition is 
unmistakably tending : 

" The prophet of evil is not a popular personage, but he is a wise 
one if his forecasts be well founded. 

" Without doubt the greatest danger which to-day threatens the 
safety of our free American institutions is the rapid and enormous 
aggregation and concentration of wealth. This is the richest country 
in the world ; it will soon possess more citizens with greater fortunes 
than has ever before been known in the annals of civilization. This 
concentration of wealth in the hands of a few means a corresponding 
drawing away from the many of comfort, competence, and the just 
recompense of labor. The more rich men, the more paupers. One 
extreme necessitates the other. 

" This concentration of wealth and corresponding concentration of 
poverty combine to produce the overthrow of democratic institutions, 
and to establish in their stead a powerful centralized government. 
For if the possessors of great wealth shall demand a strong govern- 
ment to protect them from the aggressions of the pauper masses, so 
also the indigent and improvident classes will call upon the govern- 
ment to seize upon all property and all industries, and administer 
them for the benefit of the whole people. These are the dangers 
which threaten, and they should alarm even the most enthusiastic 
optimist." 

The debts of the people, incident to the credit 
system of the Southern States, have been no small 
factor in bringing about the over-production of the 
great staple crop. Men in debt, w^ant money. 
Farmers know that cotton is the only crop that 
will bring money. In their opinion there is no 
time for anything else. They owe for land, for 
mules, for supplies of all sorts— bought at high 
prices. Cotton brings the money, and money pays 
debts. 

What matters it if corn and meat raising is neg- 



Cotton Production, 57 

lected, so a large cotton crop is made? This will 
deliver the man from his troubles. Thus reasons 
the average farmer. 

For years a class of merchants encouraged their 
credit customers to raise cotton exclusively, or very 
largely. They reasoned very naturally and very 
logically, that, the more goods sold to farmers, the 
greater their sales and the greater their aggregate 
profits. Corn, bacon, and pickled pork are just as 
good commodities on which to make money as mo- 
lasses, calico, and brogans. Mr. Henry W. Grady in 
his second article in the New York Ledger, 1889, 
writing on " The Era of Speculation in the South," 
states how this class of dealers viewed the matter of 
cotton raising: " When he (the farmer) saw the wis- 
dom of raising his own corn, bacon, grasses, and 
stock, he WAS NOTIFIED that reducing his cotton 
acreage was reducing his line of credit. He was. thus 
helpless. Carrying this burden of usnry, and buy- 
ing everything he needed, and having stocked his 
farm on credit, he made slow progress." What other 
progress could he make ? Once in debt, he was 
forced to raise cotton to the neglect of corn' and 
meat raising, no matter how ruinous. The debts of 
the farmer bound him to cotton. He was power- 
less. 

He took all the chances as to price. If the cotton 
rose in price, the farmer was fortunate. He saw a 
rift in the dark cloud. His spirit rose in proportion 
to the price, and his purpose was soon formed to 
raise more cotton. He looked with wonder at the 
long-headed wisdom of his merchant who had ad- 



58 The Ills of the South. 



vised him to raise a big cotton crop as the road out 
of debt. If the price fell, the farmer plunged 
deeper in debt. The fetters that bound him were 
tightened. During the first four years, after the 
war, the price of cotton danced up and down, gen- 
erally and alarmingly down. In 1866, it was 65 
cents; in 1867, it went down to 40 cents. That 
meant a loss of $117 per bale of 450 pounds. It 
was a loss of $5,850 on fifty bales in one year. 
That farmer had all, or nearly all, his corn and meat 
to buy. No wonder he lost his breath, and a cold, 
dreary doubt suggested itself as to the Solomonic 
wisdom of the merchant. That doubt was as cheer- 
less and as benumbing as the lack of $5,850. 
'* What must I do?" said Farmer Jones to his 
merchant. " Plant more cotton ; it is the only way 
out of debt, and it is the backbone of credit." 
More cotton was planted. In 1868, the price of 
cotton went down to 11% cents. From 40 cents in 
1867 to 11}^ cents in 1868 was a tremendous leap 
downward. In the mean time provisions kept up. 
Bacon, 22 to 23 cents; molasses, from $1 to $1.25 
per gallon ; sugar, 15 to 22 cents per pound ; coffee, 
from 30 to 32 cents; a plow, $7; thread, 125^ 
cents a spool; flour, from $11 to $12 per barrel; 
corn, $1.50 per bushel; calico, 20 cents per yard; 
cottonade, from 40 to 50 cents per yard ; lard, 28 
cents per pound ; nails, 10 cents per pound ; can- 
dles, 32 cents ; Irish potatoes, $7 per barrel ; russet 
shoes, $2.75 per pair; Lowells, 28 cents; cotton 
ties, 10 cents ; and bagging, 35 cents ; coal oil, $i 
per gallon ; matches, $5 per gross ; brogans, $2.50 



Cotton Production. 59 

per pair; tobacco, $r per pound. All these prices 
had to be covered with cotton worth ii^^j^ cents per 
pound. In 1868 the farmer realized on fifty bales 
$2,531, and lost, in consequence of the fall of price 
from 40 cents in the preceding year to 11}^ cents in 
1868, $6,468.50. So that his losses for the years 
1867 and 1868 amounted to $12,318.50. Shortly 
after this the price went up to 36 cents. It did not 
benefit the farmer. Strange manipulation of prices ! 
This heartless, conscienceless gambling in cotton 
prices ruined thousands. Hon. B. H. Hill, of 
Georgia, was during this period hopelessly involved 
to the amount of $250,000. From that day to this 
the method of business and the debts of farmers 
have kept a firm pressure on the yield of cotton. 
These causes have been main elements in the large 
yield. The increase of population and the use of 
fertilizers have added their per cent. 

It was shown in a former chapter that the mer- 
cantile system of business had much to do in derang- 
ing labor, and this condition had its effect on the 
increase of the cotton crop, not so much by what 
was done in raising cotton, as by what was left 
undone — not raising meat, and often very little 
corn. There is a bill lying before us on the table 
which will illustrate this point. Wade Sherman, a 
negro, made, in 1890, three bales of cotton valued 
by his merchant at $130.51. He bought corn, meal, 
and grits, valued at S34.05 ; the bacon bought cost 
him $38.55 ; the corn and bacon cost $72.60. When 
this was paid out of the cotton proceeds, he had 
left $57.91. More than half the cotton was spent 



6o The Ills of the South, 

for corn and bacon ; the merchant held a lien on all 
his live stock, valued at $225. The bill at the 
store, including the old debt, was $230. Wade was 
anxious to pay up, and for this reason raised mostly- 
cotton, neglecting the cornfield and the hogpen. 
This folly impoverishes the poor negro, and not 
a few white men. But this is not all. The bill 
has another important food article — flour, costing 
$26.50, increasing his food bill to $99.05, leaving 
to Wade $31.46 for a year's work, after paying his 
provision account, consisting of flour, corn, and 
bacon. 

If the demand is in excess of the supply the price 
rises. The demand for Southern cotton has made a 
constant gain in the markets of the world since 1872. 
Then '' the American supply of cotton was 3,241,000 
;bales. The foreign supply was 3,036,000 bales. In 
'the year 1888 the American supply was 8,000,000 
bales, and the foreign supply 2,100,000 bales; both 
expressed in English bales. Since 1872 the popu- 
lation of Europe has increased 13 percent.; cotton 
consumption in Europe has increased 50 per cent. 
Since 1880, cotton consumption in Europe has in- 
creased 28 per cent., the consumption of wool only 
4 per cent., while the consumption of flax has de- 
creased II per cent."* 

The business monopoly has reversed and per- 
verted the laws of trade and the canons of commerce. 
Healthy competition is dead. What there is, in the 
form of stimulating honest rivalry, is confined to 
small traders. Monopoly rules the farmer. '* I 

* Henry W. Grady. 



Cotton Production. 6i 

have taken on twenty new customers — can't take 
any more," remarked merchant Windem. There it 
is. They are fast. Their trade belongs to Windem, 
and if Windem says cotton, cotton they are sure to 
raise. 

There is no escape from the argument that the 
credit monopoly, controlled for twenty-five years by 
the merchants, has had much to do with the increase 
of the cotton crop. Debts and high prices can only 
be paid by this crop. Considerate merchants who 
advised farmers to raise corn, grasses, bacon, and 
stock were almost powerless. If they wanted the 
farmer's trade they must sell corn, bacon, and mules. 
But still there is a vast difference between the two 
merchants; one discouraged his customers from buy- 
ing corn, bacon, and mules, the other was eager to 
sell to them whatever they wanted. This eagerness 
was rarely freely and frankly expressed, but rattier 
adroitly concealed. The farmer's need was an open 
book. To make him cringe, and servile in his re- 
quests, was the thing wanted. The favor dearly 
bought was granted. Such men could hardly com- 
plain of prices. Such a man was Mr. Easygo. Mr. 
Windem bought for Mr. Easygo a mule costing $55? 
and charged him $115; took Mr. Easygo's note, 
drawing ten per cent, interest, and secured it by 
lien. He sold him flour for $15 — cash price was 
$8; bacon for 15 cents — cash price, /^ cents; and 
molasses at 75 cents per gallon. Mr. Easygo was 
advised to make a big cotton crop. Cotton only 
can pay for these big prices. All this hucksterirng 
business had but one end in view — to get a grip on 



62 The Ills of the SotctJu 

the man's property and his trade for years to come. 
The trade was forced by a law of necessity into this 
merchant's hands. No matter what reasonable and 
lawful inducement conscientious merchants held out, 
the farmer's trade had to flow through one and 
only one channel. More cotton ! " From Maryland 
through Texas the merchants are prosperous y^' From 
Maryland to Florida, and from the Atlantic seaboard 
to western Texas, the farmers are poor. Under the 
agency of these causes cotton increased and the 
price fell. Lands, live stock, chattels of every sort, 
and a half dozen cotton crops, went down to satisfy 
the claims of creditors. 

'' Superb estates, that had brought $200,000, 
dragged at $10,000; and estates that had sold for 
$65,000 went unhindered to the sheriff's hammer 
for taxes. Broader than these personal losses was 
the oppressive system entailed on the planting class. 
Having once mortgaged his crop for supplies to his 
merchant, the farmer was practically the slave of 
that merchant."* 

If such was the fate of many lordly estates where 
intelligence and knowledge of business obtained, 
what could be expected of those humbler estates 
valued from $500 to $5,000, where income, gains, 
and losses are rarely calculated ; where business 
and management are practically hap-hazard affairs? 
Who can doubt that the oppressive system was 
the strong inducement to increase the acreage in 
cotton ? 

The planter depending on this one crop, cotton, 

^ Henry W. Grady. 



Cotton Productio7i. 63 

will remain poor so long as this one crop must pay 
all his obligations and expenses. In 1892 the world's 
requirement of American cotton was 8,500,000 bales, 
and the increase of this demand is \\ per cent per 
annum. 

If this be accurate, the world's demand for Amer- 
ican cotton will be, for 1893, 8,600,000 bales; for 
1894, 8,736,000 bales; for 1895, 8,867,000 bales; for 
1896, 9,000,000 bales; for 1897, 9,135,000 bales; for 
1898, 9,272,000 bales; for 1899, 9,412,000 bales. In 
1890 the cotton crop was estimated at 9,000,000 
bales. Had it been 7,000,000 bales, it would have 
been too large under present canons of trade, though 
the price, in this event, would have been enhanced. 
Whenever this crop is a million bales in excess of 
the world's need, it is ruinous to the farmer under 
prevailing circumstances. Three related causes con- 
spire to the serious disadvantage of the South : 
over-production of cotton, under-production of grain 
and meat, and buying on long time. 

" The corn acreage in this country is 10,000,000 
acres short." "^ Whenever the corn acreage is short 
in the West, and the raising of this grain is neg- 
lected in the South, the consequences to the South 
are apparent. 

The line of duty and of interest of Southern agri- 
culturists is to live at home. Raise the necessaries 
on the home farm. It is a safe rule. It is the road 
out of trouble. There is no heart-ache in it. The 
delusions of the past ought to satisfy any sensible 
man of the wisdom of this policy. Reduce the cot- 
* Mr. C. Wood Davis in Atlanta Constitution, 1892. 



64 The Ills of the South, \ 

ton acreage. Every bale raised in excess of what i 

the world needs, lowers the price. This is a plain - 

proposition. The man who buys a plow not needed, 
will hardly pay for it the full price. The same com- 
mon sense is applied to cotton. 



CHAPTER V. 

TESTIMONY. 

The warp of the fabric is reality ; the woof, fiction ; the coloring 
domestic— M. A. Wilkins. 

CARMER HAYGOOD. ''What difference do 
^ you make between cash and credit prices in 
supplying farmers who are solvent ? " 

Merchant James Caperton. " I can make 
a reduction of 25 per cent, for the cash." 

Farmer H. '' Do I understand you to mean 
that a bill of goods costing $100 on credit, the 
same bill of goods will cost $75 cash?" 

Merchant C. " Yes, sir! that is what I mean." 

Farmer H. " But that makes a difference of 33^ 
per cent." 

Merchant C. " Certainly, it makes a difference 
of $333 on every $100. I multiply the face of the 
credit price, and call it 25 per cent. off. In reality, 
the purchaser saves $33^ on every $100. I treat 
the credit price just as I do school warrants. In 
1875, I bought $2,200 worth school warrants at an 
average discount of 30 per cent. I paid $1,540 for 
these warrants, and made $660 on my money in 
one year, or nearly 43 per cent. You know Mr. 
Blakeley? He made $30,000 in four years during 
reconstruction times. He bought one warrant for 
5 



66 The Ills of the South, 

building a bridge costing $i,8oo, at a discount of 65 
per cent. The bridge builder needed money. Mr. 
Jones saw him buy that warrant for $630. Mr. 
Blakeley made $1,170 on his money." 

Farmer H. " Why do you make such a differ- 
ence between your cash price and your credit price ?" 

Merchant C. *' Mercantile business is a risky 
and an expensive affair. I have 600 customers on 
my ledger. Fifty are first-class men — they are sol- 
vent. Seventy-five are fairly good. Of the remain- 
der, 275 are white men, and 200 are negroes. These 
475 need careful attention. Some of them would 
buy more in one year than they can pay for in three 
years. Some of them don't do half work. They 
will come to town for a pound of tobacco or a paper 
of pins on a fine day when they ought to be at work. 
I hold deeds of trust on many of their places, but 
they don't seem to be uneasy. Every year some 
cotton is run off to other markets. My annual 
losses are heavy." 

Farmer H. " That explains it. Your good cus- 
tomers must, in a measure, help to pay the losses 
sustained by the bad ones." 

Merchant C. "That's about it." 

" The warp of the fabric is reality ; the woof is 
fiction ; the coloring is domestic." 

Nine million bales of cotton in 1890, at $35, 
brought a gross income of $315,000,000. Out of 
this must come the expense bill : for meat bought, 
$45,000,000 ; for grain bought in the West, §20,000,- 
000 ; for fertilizers, $11,134,784. Then, had supplies 
been bought for cash, what would have been saved 



Testimony. 67 



on this account, and the useless and extravagant 
purchases that would have been prevented on a 
cash basis, would have put into the pockets of 
farmers, $100,000,000 more. Had meat and grain 
been raised on the farm, and everything been 
bought for cash, the saving would amount to S165,- 
000,000 yearly. Just think what this saving means 
for twenty years. Saved by this plan in twenty 
years, $3,300,000,000, or 90,000,000 bales of cotton 
valued at $35 each. 

Samuel Drew said : " Economy and good man- 
agement are excellent artists for the mending of 
hard times." 

Alexandre Dumas gives a volume of good counsel 
in these pithy sayings : ** All the world cries. Where 
is the man who will save us? We want a man! 
Don't look so far for this man ; you have him at 
hand. This man — it is you, it is I, it is each one of 
us! How to constitute one's self a man? Noth- 
ing harder, if one knows not how to will it ; nothing 
easier, if one wills it." 

It is now proposed to introduce the general opin- 
ion of thoughtful people, and the evidence of the 
census report in relation to the business method or 
the credit system prevalent in the South. We 
believe this common and concurrent opinion is not 
only based upon facts, but is entitled to earnest 
consideration. The circumstantial evidence, to say 
nothing of positive knowledge of reliable men, shows 
that the farming community is tremendously handi- 
capped. They are burden bearers. There is no 
doubt about the fact. They are down, and to get 



68 The Ills of the South, 

on their feet is attended with almost insurmount- 
able difficulties. We speak of them as a class. 
Like the man in the quicksand, the more they 
struggle the deeper they sink. Men down to the 
armpits are advised to continue their efforts. But 
every effort is fatal. The treacherous yielding sand 
threatens to ingulf them. Our people stand on a 
treacherous foundation. 

The cause of their troubles is complex. One 
form of it is the method of buying on time. The 
great objection to it is, there are many things about 
this credit plan, the average farmer can not compre- 
hend. He does not know what obligations he is 
trying to carry. A man can do so much work, 
carry such a load, and no more. " Another straw 
breaks the camel's back," is a true saying. What 
is there mysterious about it? This is a fair ques- 
tion. In the first place, he does not understand 
the terms of the plan — one feature of it in par- 
ticular. If he had the money and could barely 
afford to pay $4.25 for a barrel of flour, can he 
afford to pay $7, the time price? Does he think 
of this? Hardly. No one denies that prices on 
nine months' time are high. He can not afford to 
do business on these terms, and live. He eats up 
his labor, his horse, and his land, without knowing 
it. He is the man in the quicksand. Secondly, 
he is all the time in danger of buying too much. 
If the security is good, or if he has property, the 
temptation is strong in this direction, and in this 
event, he will not be denied the merchandise de- 
sired. Thirdly, he can not foresee what will happen 



Testimony. 69 



during the year. His crop may be short, and the 
general crop may be large. These and other causes 
may bring about a considerable balance due the 
merchant at the end of the year. 

This way of trading is beyond the grasp of the 
average farmer. He can not calculate the disas- 
trous consequences to himself. To ask a man to 
do business on this plan, is almost to invite him to 
enslave himself and his family. It has worked this 
way thus far. 

What the country needs just now, to assure rea- 
sonable prosperity, is genuine sympathy between 
the merchant class and the farming class. Honest 
sympathy, transparent as God's daylight, is the need 
of the hour. "If I were to be asked," said Judge 
Talfourd, on whom Death was at that moment lay- 
ing his hand, " what is the great want of English 
society — to mingle class with class ; I would say in 
one word, the want is the want of sympathy y "^ It is 
the need of the South. The greedy, selfish policy, 
by which a few are enriched, and many are impov- 
erished, is a curse to any land in the long run. 
Men may call such a policy by the fairest name, and 
justify it by every specious argument at their com- 
mand, yet such a policy is fundamentally wrong. 
To put the common welfare of millions on the rack, 
is neither humane nor just. *' Righteousness exalt- 
eth a nation ; but sin is a reproach to any people." 
There is no flaw or error in this great truth. The 
righteousness that elevates and prospers a nation, 
will do the same for the individuals composing the 



* *' Thrift," by Samuel Smiles. 



70 The Ills of the South, 

nation. Oppression of every form, whether encour- 
aged, stimulated, or invited by direct or indirect 
means, is in intent and in practice opposed to right- 
eousness. 

The cost of supplies on the time basis cripples the 
Southern farmer. Whatever else may be fiction, 
this is history from 1865 to 1893. What is this 
credit cost above the cash cost ? The evidence 
shows that it is from twenty-five to one Jmndred per 
cent, above a fair cash valuation. Some of the most 
successful and competent business men in the South 
contend that merchandise in towns and country 
stores can not be sold for cash at a profit less than 
twenty-five per cent. The credit cost to the con- 
sumer ranges thus from fifty to one hundred and 
twenty-five per cent. 

Prices, of course, have been subject to various 
fluctuations. When cotton was selling at thirty 
cents per pound, the margin of profit was larger 
than when cotton sells at seven cents a pound. Nor 
have these prices been uniform among all mer- 
chants. It is claimed that the general average 
prices, as stated, ruled the market for all men who 
bought on time. 

The question is not whether merchants could do 
business of this nature on a less profit. It is pre- 
sumed they could not, or they had no inclination to 
do so. If the first view be the just interpretation 
of these commercial transactions, then it is fair to 
conclude that the consumer, judged by the experi- 
ence of the past, can not continue to be a partner to 
these transactions upon these terms and prosper. 



Testhizony, 7 1 



These terms are denied by some. ^ Catalogue 
prices are no criterion. The discount off to the 
trade is large. Articles of luxury are not under 
consideration, but the necessaries of life. If the 
terms are not as high as represented, why should 
this confessedly risky business be courted by so 
many men ? Why should it be called the money- 
making business ? 

The direct information of individuals, various 
comparisons, the common judgment of reliable men 
and the testimony from ten Southern States, leaves 
no room for doubt as to the general average prices 
on the time basis. Besides, certain deductions, 
difficult to explain away, corroborate this common 
opinion. 

Honorable business has no need for evasion or 
jugglery of any kind. It can stand all the light that 
may be let in upon it. The man that offers to sell 
a horse for two hundred dollars, and proposes to 
make by the sale one hundred dollars, has a perfect 
right to do as he pleases with his property. The 
price may be regarded as exorbitant, but that is his 
concern. The purchaser may decline to buy at this 
price, because it is too high, or because he can not 
afford it. In either event, the act is his own, and 
honorable. Neither the seller nor the purchaser 
is blameworthy. The price of the horse is under 
consideration, not men. 

The credit price is the topic for investigation. Is 
it high ? 

A friend bought coffee for his family at 12 cents 
cash ; a neighbor of his bought, on time, a similar 



72 The Ills of the South, 

article at 25 cents. A white farmer bought two 
articles of universal use on the farm for $9.80 cash ; 
another man bought similar articles on credit for 
$14. The cash price of a necessary article was $18 ; 
the credit price, $28. 

These may be exceptional cases ; possibly are. If 
such transactions are made in one place, they may 
be made in another. The path of self-denial for 
twelve months is certainly the path of wisdom. 
Such an effort will bring its own reward in time. 

"In Alabama 45 per cent, of the farmers, white and colored, are 
heavily in debt, without available means of liquidation ; and not less 
than 65 per cent, find it necessary to seek assistance from the county 
commissioners and the merchants. They pay over 50 per cent, more 
for their supplies than cash prices. Money is borrowed by mortgag- 
ing farms at interest rates ranging from 18 to 24 per cent, per 
annum. The negroes get about 35 per cent, of the cotton made in 
the State, but it is all pledged for supplies before it is gathered. 
On an average go per cent, of the whole crop is pledged before 
grown, for supplies and interest. All supplies on this basis cost 
upward of 75 per cent, above cash prices. The same thing is true 
of Mississippi. One-third of the farmers of Texas are hopelessly 
burdened with debt. They obtain from $2 to I5 advances from 
merchants on cultivated land secured by a crop lien. The annual 
rate of interest is 12 per cent, in Texas. Farmers pay from 15 to 25 
per cent. ; the difference between cash and credit prices is from 25 
to 50 per cent. In Arkansas 75 per cent, of the farmers in the cot- 
ton regions are in debt ; in the grass and grain region, 25 per cent. 
The tenant or share-hand farmer is scored at the rate of 50 to 100 
per cent. In other words, it costs him two-thirds more labor to live 
than it would if he had the cash. The worst form of indebtedness 
is that contracted by securing advances on grown crops ; it throttles 
industry and breeds despair by reducing the borrower to slavery."* 

" In my opinion, the true cause of the unrest which pervaded the 
State for some years before i8go was a system of commercial extor- 

* History of the Wheel. 



Testimony, 73 



tion or legalized robbery of the farming, and, in general, the poorer 
class by the money owners and money lenders, in whatever form it 
was loaned to the people, whether by bankers, private usurers, or 
cotton factors. This system began as early as the close of the war, 
when the Confederate soldier came home to find that all was lost, 
both on the battlefield and his farm. In order to assist him in the 
struggle to restore his fallen fortunes, to give him credit and stand- 
ing in the commercial world, the lien law was enacted. It was 
intended as a blessing, but became a curse so patent that in time the 
farming classes cried out against it as an infatnous, though silent, 
oppressor. Merchants and bankers charged outrageous rates of 
interest. With rates of 300 per cent, under the lien system, and 50 
per cent, charged by bankers and merchants, the farmer was taxed 
to death ; certainly to the point where forbearance ceased to be a 
virtue, and where revolt was the remedy, both in law and equity."* 

" Monopoly is the true cancer, but, like other cancers, its roots 
penetrate the entire body on which it subsists ; in consequence of 
which we challenge the world to produce the equal of some Arkansas 
monopolists on a small scale. We know of a certain mercantile firm 
who twenty-five years ago owned nothing comparatively, but to-day 
own eighteen thousand acres of land, a great part of which is in 
cultivation ; also mules, horses, cattle, and several stores. Perhaps 
one person would be more correct than a firm, for one person owns 
the greater part of the property. The inquiry arises, how did this 
man, who had no capital to start with, amass that amount of property 
in twenty-five years, while farmers who had capital grew poorer 
every year? The answer is, monopoly and extortion ! These, in 
the instance named, were managed through the ' anaconda ' mort- 
gage, which he succeeded in obtaining on crops and stock, and often 
on lands. Then began the wholesale robbery by charging two and 
three prices for the goods furnished, thereby reducing his victims to 
extreme poverty ; yea, to financial skeletons. The poor victims, 
unable to comply with the enormous demands, were ' sold out ' at 
shamefully loiu prices, the mortgagee being the purchaser at two- 
thirds the cash value placed on the property by appraisers chosen to 
put the lowest valuation that decency would permit. 

" The instant one of these anaconda mortgages is executed, the 
maker becomes practically the slave of the mortgagee ; he is deprived 

* Senator Irby from South Carolina. 



74 The Ills of the SoiUL 

of all means of obtaining credit elsewhere ; he is compelled to trade 
with the holder of the mortgage ; he can not object to the quality or 
quantity of the goods offered hi^n, nor to the prices charged." * 

Competition is the life of trade, but this can have 
no place under this system. Eight months before 
the cotton is ready for market, the purchaser is 
determined. Prices seeking equilibrium which whole- 
some competition would produce, is impossible. 

The Rayi7toiid Gazette, a newspaper published in 
the County of Hinds, State of Mississippi, had this 
to say on the credit system, in one of its issues in 
January, 1894: 

" What tightness there may be in the money market in the South 
is due more to reaction from the North than to the actual condition 
of this section. It is a financial back-water setting in from a less 
favored section than our own that we are suffering from. None the 
less, there is an undisputed stringency in the money market. Mer- 
chants are afraid to make the usual advances until they see what the 
banks are going to do. As for the banks, they are reported to be 
flush with money, and yet holding on to it, until they can see their 
way more clearly. 

" But be the cause of the stringency what it may, our farmers may 
as well make up their minds at once that they will have to buy less 
on credit this year than they have been accustomed to do. It is a 
good thing for all concerned that such is the case. The credit sys- 
tem has been so abused that it has become a curse rather than a 
blessing, and the sooner it can be abolished the better it will be for 
all classes of our people. 

" It is bankrupting many merchants, and to outsiders the wonder 
is that all are not bankrupted. There is a scramble among them for 
custom that is simply amazing, and in the eagerness to get a darky's 
trade all sound business principles seem to be thrown to the winds. 
The writer has known a leading merchant in this county to make 
advances to a penniless negro on no other security than an old pot- 
iron, double-barreled gun, that was pretty badly off in the matter of 

* History of the Wheel. 



Testimony. 75 



lock, stock, and barrel. That is an extreme case, but nearly all 
advances are much on similar lines. Raw-boned horses and hollow- 
horned cows make up much of the security on which advances are 
often made to the tune of four and five hundred dollars on a single 
darky. And these enormous bills are not made legitimately. There 
are tenant farmers who can show bills in which they were charged 
last year $9 to |ii for a barrel of flour that cost perhaps $3.50. 
And so vi^ith other goods. And not only are these iniquitous charges 
made on the necessaries of life, but the bills are swelled by charges 
for useless gewgavi^s, for corsets and bonnets and fancy shoes. 

" While there are merchants who will fight for the possession of a 
darky with one hide-bound mule, nearly all will, naturally, demand 
all the security they can get. The shotgun merchant above men- 
tioned had tried to get the negro's landlord to stand for him before 
the gun was taken. And so it happens that there are merchants 
who have become, by demanding security of landlords, the largest 
landowners in the country. 

" So, after all, while many merchants have gone under, those who 
succeeded in business have succeeded on a large scale. They are 
men of great wealth, while their neighbors are poor ; and the poorest 
of all is the man who has a large body of land without the ready 
money to cultivate it. He has on his hands an unsalable elephant 
that is too good to give away and ruinous to keep. There are not 
many of the kind left. The merchants have swallowed them all. 
Such as are left would do well not to be tempted to go security for 
tenants. In nearly all cases where he does, he is left to ' hold the 
bag,' while the tenant has had victuals, clothes, and fancy articles, 
and the merchant has made his big profit. 

"Volumes might be written on this subject. Enough has been 
said to make it plain that the sooner the credit system, as it now 
exists, is abolished, the better for all classes of the community." 

The Selma (Alabama) Times says : 

" The only way to get out of debt and get a good price for cotton, 
is for every farmer to raise his farm supplies. Then he can sell his 
cotton whenever the price suits him. That is the road that leads to 
agricultural independence." 

This appeared in the Times in 1894. 

But let us hear what is the general opinion from 



76 The Ills of the Sotcth, 

ten Southern States concerning this mode of doing 
business, and its effect upon the prosperity of the 
tillers of the soil : * 

Louisiana. 
"The system prevails very generally throughout the State. 
Rapides: To a considerable extent, the merchants, the chief of 
which are Jews, have heretofore got about ail the negro made, 
whether that was one bale or ten. Catahoula : Country mer- 
chants furnish small farmers or new beginners a reasonable amount 
of goods for themselves and families for the year, taking a mort- 
gage on the crop. Four-fifths of the farmers deal in this way. 
De Soto : It is almost universal; very few planters pay cash for 
everything, and almost no laborers do. Bossier: \\.\s universal, 
and our greatest evil. Red River : To an alarming extent after a 
good season ; but a bad season checks the system. 

Mississippi. f 
" The habit of scattering the energies of the working force over 
large surfaces . . . perpetuate the pernicious system of credit Q.wd. 
advances upon crops for provisions which could be more cheaply pro- 
duced at home. Mississippi Bottom : It prevails very generally 
throughout the region and to the extent of the ivhole or three-fourths 
of the growing crop. In Holmes, it is exceptional that any one, 
white or black, pays cash for an article. Deeds of trust are the rule. 
In Issaquena, frequently, the tenants (all negroes) when they have 
sufficient money and are able to pay cash as they go, prefer to keep 
their money and exhaust their credit. Upland Counties : The system 
prevails generally throughout the region and in most of the counties 
to the extent of one-half or 7Jiore of the prospective value of the 
crop. Alcorn : Hands occasionally desert the crop after getting all 
the advances they can. Marshall : At least one-half oi the crop is 
virtually raised on credit at ruinous rates. Noxubee, Pike, and 
Simpson : But few laborers can get along without credit. Hinds : 
It is due to this that land has no market value and that labor is taken 
from the landowners' control and forced into cotton production exclu- 
sively. Scott : It is one of the farmer's misfortunes that he is in 

* Tenth Census, Vol. V., Part I., p. 84. 
t Ibid., pp. 78, 155. 



Testimony. 11 

debt and at the mercy of the merchant. Simpson : It is one great 
cause of the laborer's extravagance and wastefulness. Leake : 
Necessitates the exclusive production of cotton. Amite : Especially 
among the negroes. 

Tennessee.* 
" It prevails to a considerable extent throughout the State, often to 
three-fourths the value of the crop. 

Arkansas.! 

" Fulton : % It prevails to a sjnall extent; none of the farmers 
are rich, and they pay cash for what they buy. Miller and Boone : 
The system is quite getieral. Arkansas, Jefferson, and Grant : 
It prevails to a very large extent. Columbia : To a ruinous extent. 
Nearly all the hired laborers are negroes, who obtain their supplies 
from the merchants, the farmers having no control over their labor. 
Marion : Farmers frequently have to mortgage to merchants at very 
high rates of interest. CONWAY : It prevails to a large and ruinous 
extent, and induces laborers to spend their year's wages in advance, 
and leads to lawsuits. White, Pope, and Franklin : To a very 
serious extent, so much so that in many cases the credit given \% equal 
to the full value of the crop. Dallas and Garland : To an 
alarj?iing extent; in the latter county the condition of things is im- 
proving. Baxter and Drew : Largely, and to its fullest extent; 
generally a planter is credited to ihQ full amount oi \.\iG^ crop, and in 
some instances to a greater amount. Faulkner, Sevier, Lincoln, 
and Union : The system is almost universal. Sebastian : The 
poorer class of farmers secure the advances they need by mortgaging 
a few acres of the growing crop ; the better class obtain credit without 
mortgage. Hot Springs : Farmers obtain credit to the extent of 
about two-thirds the value of the prospective crop. Ashley : Three- 
fourths oi thosQ x^nWx\g diVid one- half oi those owning land obtain 
advances from merchants. Pulaski : About twenty per cent, of the 
farmers obtain advances. Scott : About thirty-five per cent. Craw- 
ford : Yxo\i2\A^ sixty per cent. Clark: sixty-six and two-thirds per 
cent. Prairie : Ninety per cent. Howard : Credit is given to the 
amount of at least one- half oi th e bacon consumed ; breadstuffs are 

* P. 104, f P- io6- 

X Fulton's population is 6,684 whites and 36 negroes. 



y'^ The Ills of the South, 

raised at home. Cross and Mississippi : The system prevails to a 
great extent. Chicot : The crop is made entirely on a credit sys- 
tcniy as the negroes give a mortgage before the crop is planted for 
all supplies, to enable them to make and gather it. Lee : Nine- 
tenths of the white and all the colored planters give mortgages to 
merchants for their supplies. Crittenden : Nine-tenths of the 
crops are made by money advanced by merchants of Memphis and 
New Orleans. Desha, Woodruff, and Saint Francis : The credit 
system is almost universal. Craighead: Yzxmexs buy 7nore than 
they cJU pay for, but that don't hurt their feelings one particle. 
Texas.* 
" It is not prevalent in Burnet, Gillespie, Clay, Palo Pinto, 
Eastland, Frio, and Live Oak Counties ; to a very small extent 
in Hopkins, Van Zandt, Cooke, Dallas, Grayson, Denton, 
Johnson, Tarrant, Hill, Lavaca, Karnes, Goliad, Victoria, 
Rockwall, Titus, Wilson, Comal, Harris, De Witt, Hardin, 
Chambers, Jefferson, Guadalupe, Blanco, Bexar, and Atascosa 
Counties. In other cotton counties of the State it prevails very 
largely, usually to one-half ox three- fourths, and sometimes to \.\vefull 
value of a crop. In a few of the counties it is declining. As a rule, 
the landowner is made responsible for any supplies that merchants 
may advance to tenants or share-laborers. Robertson County : 
Local or Galveston merchants advance supplies to about $30 per 
bale at 8 per cent, interest. Grimes County : About four-fifths 
of the farmers obtain advances of goods ; planters pledge to mer- 
chants, who make advances as far as they feel safe, and at the close 
of the season generally take all the crop. Mortgages are sometimes 
given before the crop is planted, and very few can raise a crop with- 
out assistance. Merchants sell goods at cash rates, but charge one per 
cent, per month on all credits. Colorado County : Besides obtain- 
ing supplies from merchants, the tenant also obtains credit on milch 
cows, corn, meat, etc., from the farm owners. The merchant always 
makes money, while the landowner suffers loss. It sometimes takes 
three years to pay for what was spent in eight months." 

In 1886 the Commissioner of Agriculture thus 
sums up the situation in the Southern States: 
" It appears that a large proportion of cotton 

* P. 162. 



Testimony. 79 



planters are in debt for current supplies, and that the 
loss resulting amounts to $5,000,000 per annum in 
some States, and absorbs nearly or quite all the 
profits of production, while the soil is wearing away, 
with the lives of the cultivators, for the benefit of 
the commercial class." "^ 

This sum paid for supplies in excess of the cash 
price would amount to nearly $70,000 yearly on an 
average for each county of the cotton-growing 
States. On this basis, each county sustained an 
average loss in twenty-five years of $1,750,000. It 
is not surprising that the Commissioner of Agri- 
culture should say in reference to this situation, 
**This record makes a burden of interest that is 
unendurable." 

Now, it is a noteworthy fact that such men as Mr. 
Henry W. Grady and Mr. Harry Hammond, the 
various State Agents of the Department of Agri- 
culture, and observant men from every portion of 
the South, report the furnishing merchants every- 
where prosperous. They are making money. 

The contrast between their condition and that of 
the producer is very striking. Prosperity is the 
marked characteristic of the commercial class, as 
poverty and debts are the doleful features of the 
farming class. These are the features. How are 
they to be accounted for? 

The contention is not with the merchant, nor 
with the farmer. Both have dropped into a groove. 
The system of business is mainly to be charged with 
the results that burden the South. 



Report of the Commissioner of Agriculture, iSS6, p. 427. 



8o The Ills of the South. 

The expensiveness of conducting this kind of 
business has necessitated high prices. It is well 
known that a vast majority of these furnishing 
merchants operated during all these years upon 
borrowed capital. The commission merchants 
generally charged the country and town merchants 
eight per cent, on the money to be furnished dur- 
ing the season, two and a half per cent, for accept- 
ances, and the same per cent, for selling cotton. 
Storage and insurance of cotton formed items of 
expense. Often there was a loss on cotton of one 
and two dollars a bale. It is a general opinion that 
it takes ten per cent, on the sales to conduct busi- 
ness. The annual losses due to bad debts are never 
small. The theft of goods out of the store during 
the busy months of November and December must 
be added to the expense bill. Besides, in this busi- 
ness, balances are carried over every year. These 
items will run up a large per cent, that must be 
paid by the consumer. Add to this the net per 
cent, of profit. View it in whatever light we may, 
the business can not be conducted without a high 
rate of interest on the original cost. 

That this is so, that the prices must be high, is 
confirmed by the evidence of prosperity of mer- 
chants. Everywhere are men engaged in the fur- 
nishing business whose capital ranged from $500 to 
$5,000. In a period of twenty-five years, when the 
Southern planters were struggling with poverty, 
debts, and the labor system, they managed to 
accumulate handsome fortunes, varying from $io,coo 
to $200,000. 



CHAPTER VI. 

TESTIMONY CONTINUED — ALABAMA, FLORIDA, 
GEORGIA, NORTH AND SOUTH CAROLINA. 

A LL reformation must have its birth in thought. 
*~^ It implies changes, personal, social, religious, 
and political. The man who goes heedlessly on 
year after year with a plan whose disastrous results 
lie around him does not think. '' I thought on my 
way," is the first step to a better life. Earnest 
thoughts about deranged and hurtful business affairs 
must be the first and essential step to a more pru- 
dent and a better management. The spendthrift, 
the sower of wild oats, the dreamer that sees 
" oceans of money " in every foolish scheme, and 
the man that makes no calculation in reference to 
his business, are not the men acquainted with effect- 
ive thinking. This is the only kind of thought that 
has value. Mere vagrant thought that does not 
consider the means to an end is rubbish. 

When reliable men from an extensive territory 
tell in plain words the damaging results traceable to 
the prevailing business system, the effect must be 
to stimulate thought ; and effective thought will 
produce reform. The evidence concerning a long 
and eventful period of bad management should lead 
to earnest reform. 
6 



82 The Ills of the South. 



Alabama.* 

" The system of advances, or credit, so prevalent throughout the 
cotton-producing parts of the State, is not without its evil influence, 
for the laborer and too often the owners of the land are obliged to 
get advances of provisions from their merchants, for the payment of 
which the crop is mortgaged ; and as cotton is the only crop which 
will always bring ready money, its planting is usually insisted on by 
the merchants making the advances. In this way cotton comes to 
be the paramount crop, and there is little chance for rotation with 
other things. 

*' The system of credits in the large cotton-producing regions pre- 
vails to such an extent that the whole cotton crop is usually mortgaged 
before it is gathered ; and when we consider that the prices charged 
for provisions, etc., thus advanced are at least 50 per cent. 
HIGHER than regular market rates, and that the cost of producing cot- 
ton is given by our correspondents, almost without exception, at 8 
cents a pound, it will need very little calculation to show that the 
laborer who makes a profit of only 2 or 3 cents a pound, or $12 to 
$15 a bale, on his cotton, ivill have the chances too greatly against him 
ever to be out of debt to his merchants when he relies solely upon this 
crop to provide the money ; and the exorbitant interest on the money 
advanced is not likely to be lessened so long as the merchant's risks 
continue to be as great as they are,'' — Prof. Eugene Allen Smith, 
Ph.D., Special Census Agent for Alabama and Florida. 

Correspondents report for Alabama: 

" In regions I., credits to the value of one-half the laborer's crop 
are often made by the landowner ; in regions II., credits are given 
largely in a few localities, but not as much as formerly ; in regions 
III., credits have only been recently asked and granted ; in regions 
IV., v., VI., and VII., credits are almost universal, and regularly 
consume the entire crop of the laborer." 

Florida. f 

" In Jackson, Gadsden, Leon, Jefferson, Hamilton, Suwan- 
nee, Alachua, and Marion, and where cotton is the chief crop, the 

* Tenth Census, Vol. II., Part II., pp. 62, 63, 156. 
f Ibid., p. 71. 



Testimony Continued. 83 

credit system prevails, and often to a ruinous extent, as in many 
cases the farmers are a year behind; the merchants are willing to 
advance on growing crops and take liens for heavy profits. No 
remedy seems possible under the present system of planting cotton 
exclusively. In the lower counties, Polk, Taylor, and Volusia,* 
the credit system does not prevail to any great extent, cotton not 
being the chief crop." 

" The cotton production of Florida in i860 was estimated at about 
65.000 bales, in 1870 at about 39,000 bales, and in 1880 at about 
55,000 bales. This decrease becomes all the more noticeable when we 
take into consideration the increase of the population during the same 
period." In i860 the white population was 77.746 ; in 1880 it was 
142,605. In i860 the negro population was 62,677 ; in 1880 it was 
126,690. 

" The reason for this decrease in the cotton crop is thus stated 
by Hon. Dennis Eagen, former commissioner of immigration : 

" 'The new conditions of labor have operated largely to reduce 
the acreage of this staple (cotton), and the attention of planters has 
been turned to the culture of other crops requiring the employment 
of a less number of hands.' " f 

Georgia, t 

*' Not to any extent in Catoosa and Gordon. § Provisions to 
tenants in Murray and Chattooga, and to a very great extent 
in other counties. Since the late war, the great majority of the peo- 
ple have been in debt, and hence the system of credits and advances. 
To a small extent in Union, Hart, Banks, Haralson, and 
Fulton ; but in all other counties to the extent of one-half or three- 
fourths of the value of the crop. Central Cotton Belt : In all 
of the counties, but to a limited extent in Marion County. Ad- 
vances are obtained by about one-half oi the farmers to the extent of 
from one-half to three-fourths of the value of the crop for provis- 
ions, supplies, and clothing. Long Leaf Pine and Coast Region: 
To no extent in Camden County ; limited in Appling, Coffee, 
Berrien, Montgomery, Wilcox, Chatham, Liberty, Wayne, 



* White counties. 

t Tenth Census, Vol. VI., Part II., p. 29. 

X P. 174. 

§ White counties. 



84 The Ills of the South, 

Clinch, and Echols, In other counties it prevails to a very great 
extent^ one-half or more of the farmers obtaining advances to the 
value of a large part of the crop. The system is declining in Brooks, 
Montgomery (liens only on live stock), and Telfair." 

South Carolina.* 

The statements concerning the economic con- 
ditions of this State are made by Harry Ham- 
mond, Esq., special agent of the census for South 
Carolina. He says : 

" Purchasing supplies on a credit prevails to a considerable extent, 
especially among the small farmers. The exact rate at which these 
advances are made can not be given, as it is not charged as in- 
terest, but is included in an increased price asked for supplies 
purchased on a credit. It varies from twenty to otie hundred per 
cent, above the market value of the goods, according to the amount 
of competition among the storekeepers, who here, as elsewhere 
in the State, are by far the most prosperous class of the community, 
in proportion to the skill and capital employed. The better class of 
farmers do not approve of the credit system. It furnishes facilities 
to small farmers, encouraging them to undertake operations they 
can not make remunerative to themselves ; it reduces the number 
of laborers, precludes high culture. The rental value of land is 
thus increased, and land which could not be sold for ten dollars may 
be rented for five dollars. 

" The thriftless culture resulting from the small farm, unduly 
multiplied by this unhealthy stimulus of credit, causes many acres 
to be thrown yearly out of cultivation. Thus the increasing demand 
to rent land, in consequence of the increasing facilities for credit to 
small farmers, and the constantly diminishing area of arable land 
resulting from the very imperfect system of culture their lack of 
means forces them to adopt, create high rejits injurious to the small 
farmer, and impoverish the landlord by deteriorating the quality 
of his land, as well as by abstracting the labor he would employ in 
remunerative culture. 

' ' The system of credits and advances prevails to a large extent, 

* Pp. 6i, 65. 



Testimony Co7itinued. 85 

consuming from one third to three-fifths of the crop before it is 
harvested. The statement is general that this is on the decrease, 
and is correct in so far that a larger amount of supplies is being pro- 
duced at home, and a larger number of purchases for cash are being 
made by farmers since 1S75. On the other hand, the number of 
farmers having largely increased in the same period, the number 
working on advances, especially among the small farmers, has largely 
increased also. The records of the courts show that the number of 
/zVwjon the growing crop is^/-^a//)/^« the increase^ the rate of increase 
being twenty-three per cent, per annum for the last two years. The 
number of such liens on record in eleven of the counties under con- 
sideration is (there being no return from Union) 30,205, a number 
nearly equal to the number of farros ; but as two or more liens are 
not unfrequently recorded against the same crop, probably not more 
than half of thd growing crops are under lien. The aggregate value 
of these liens is $2,354,956, an average to the lien of $77. It 
appears that the five counties lowest in the ratio of farm productions 
to farm values have a larger amount in liens by 13 per cent, than 
the five counties standing highest in this ratio. In the former, the 
recorded indebtedness is $4.28 for each acre in cotton, on which 
crop alone liens are taken. In the latter, it is $2.84 per acre in 
cotton. As may be inferred from the number and average amount 
of these liens, they are most taken from the smaller farmers, uszially 
renters, for advances made by the landlord, or more frequently by 
the storekeeper." 

North Carolina.* 

" Very little in Columbus, Guilford, Chatham, and Alexan- 
der. To a considerable extent in BRUNSWICK, Rowan, Anson, 
Union, Cleaveland, Cumberland, and Duplin. Not too much 
in Pamlico. To value of one-half of the crop on an average in 
Carteret, Franklin, Mecklenburg, and Wayne. Only for fer- 
tilizers in Alamanco. In other counties, the system prevails to a 
great extent, and in several almost universally. \ Wake County : 
Most farmers do not clear eftoitgh one year to enable them to grow the 
next year s crop. The system is 'blue ruin ' to the farmer. Craven 
County : The merchants and others take advantage by charging 

^ P. 77. 

f Population : white, 24,289 ; negroes, 53,650. 



86 The Ills of the South, 

extortionate prices. Lincoln : Not much among those farmers 
doing their own work, but is almost universal among those who hire. 
Edgecombe, Pitt, Beaufort : The practice is decreasing every 
year." 

In 1893 the Southern situation remained practi- 
cally unchanged. There may have been some slight 
improvement in various localities, but these few- 
isolated and temporary cases can not be regarded as 
sure and permanent indications of an upward and 
forward movement toward a general progress in 
economic conditions. The average status during 
this year of the farming class of the South was 
unusually gloomy. There was general depression, 
and a strange feeling of unrest. An awakened 
feeble sense of wrong manifested itself. All is not 
well. 

The unrest led to a search for the cause of their 
woes, and this, too, often when found, was not 
real, or vague and ill-defined, like other ill-defined 
and unsurveyed territory. Real hindrances against 
the farmer were clumsily managed. A dark, dan- 
gerous, zigzag course was taken, when the sunlit, 
straightforward method of calm, public protesta- 
tions was sure of triumph. The right way of doing 
things is always the best. It may be a little slow, 
but it is the wisest. It has no train of pernicious 
consequences following doubtful and dangerous 
methods to correct evil. The air was full of pyro- 
technics. A form of lawlessness arose, known as 
White Capism, in sections of various Southern 
States, striking terror to communities, placing the 
actors in the category of crime, adding to court 



Testimony Co7itinued, 87 



expenses, and bringing grief and trouble to many 

families. 

A vast deal charged to White Capism is not true ; 
perhaps nine-tenths of the outrages attributed to 
these men are not true. It became fashionable to 
charge them with every villainy. As long as a 
befogged and distorted public sentiment could see 
crime alone in the so-called White Caps, unscrupu- 
lous men saw the occasion, under the screen of this 
opinion, to gratify their spite or their revenge, or 
further their interest. 

The end to be accomplished by this organization 
was not the same everywhere, nor were the causes 
that inspired the organization the same, if their acts 
form a safe criterion by which to judge them. In 
other words, the genus has a variety of species. 
The perpetrators of crime constituted a band of 
reckless, lawless men. Those whose one motive 
was to correct the labor system in certain localities, 
were another class. They harmed no man's person 
or property. Their great mistake was, they laid 
down the gap for the perpetration of crime by 
the other class. They established a mischievous 
precedent. 

The end in view could have been secured by 
unobjectionable methods. The object was to free 
the lands belonging to merchants of negro ten- 
ants. The grievance was, that these tenants were 
a menace to live stock, and a demoralizing ele- 
ment to the labor of the neighboring farmers. It 
was, in substance, a war against uncontrolled, unsu- 
pervised, and, in not a few instances, poorly fed, 



88 The Ills of the South, 

labor. Supplies were furnished according to crop 
prospects. 

These disturbances were local. The number of 
merchants who thus farmed was small. Had the 
fifty or one hundred thousand acres been divided 
into a number of large plantations, and occupied by 
negro tenants, it is doubtful whether any complaint 
would have been made. Supervision in this event 
would have been necessary, and the larder would 
have been kept full. But these tenants were scat- 
tered over a wide area of territory, on many farms, 
ranging from a hundred to a thousand acres, among 
four or five times that number of farms owned by 
white people. These tenants thus situated, thrift- 
less, improvident, and poor; many with not a day's 
provisions on hand, and others with no provisions 
in their homes for days, were a constant source of 
anxiety to their neighbors. 

This state of affairs could not last. Criticism was 
plentiful on the movement to break up this phase 
of tenant system. The press teemed with exagger- 
ated stories, sometimes the product of mere idle 
rumor, and sometimes the product of prejudice or 
passion. One class of men condemned the move- 
ment with iron stoicism, because it was bad policy. 
Their view was correct, but this did not help the 
people in trouble. Their denunciatory gifts were 
large, but they were wanting in the gift to offer a 
remedy. They had no sympathetic interest in any 
of the three parties concerned : the merchants, the 
white farmers, and the negro tenants. Others dis- 
approved the method, approved the object to be 



Testimony Continued, 89 

accomplished, and sympathized with the people. 
Wrong resulted to the merchants, but not through 
the men who gave orders to the tenants to leave 
these places after the crop was gathered. This is 
the common judgment of the people. The harm 
to the merchants was the result of the method. 
Had the merchants shown active sympathy for the 
people when they saw the storm coming, years 
before it darkened the horizon, or had the people 
adopted a frank, courageous policy, the class of mer- 
chants affected w^ould have been the least sufferers. 
The men that approved the object, but not the 
plan, sympathized with the hard environment of 
the white farming class, and no less with the negro 
tenants in their unwise and dangerous position. 
If these tenants were a threat to peace, order, and 
property, their life was also the source of danger. 
Others condemned the relief measure, not as unwise 
in plan, but in itself. It was a hostile measure to 
them. For the suffering people, white and black, 
they had no particular interest. Their active con- 
cern for the people who had enriched them was of 
the same type as that of Surajah Dowlah when he 
shut up one hundred and forty-six Englishmen in 
the Black Hole of Calcutta. Had a conference been 
proposed, it would have been to their gain and to 
the benefit of all parties. Unfortunately, they saw 
the matter only in the light of a certain class of 
people at Philippi of ancient Macedonia — ''The 
hope of their gain was gone." No good man 
favored wrong to them. Under all the circum- 
stances, and in perfect fairness, a motion from this 



90 The Ills of the South. 

merchant class for a better understanding and an 
amicable adjustment would have been most graceful 
and would have gone a long way to healing the 
grievances. 

All these troubles had their root in the business 
system under review. The bulk of this land — over 
seventy-five thousand acres owned by one firm, and 
occupied largely by negro tenants — was lost by 
white farmers through the operation of the lien 
laws and the credit system. 

These related evils are not dead. Early in Feb- 
ruary, 1893, the Clarion Ledger, one of the most 
influential newspapers of the State, published in the 
capital city of Mississippi, thus uttered its warning 
notes : '' This lien-law device has wrought infinite 
evil. And it has but postponed the end. The effect 
of facility of credit on such a population destroyed 
the germ of the only practice — thrift and economy 
— which can save a farming community from ruin." 
The evidence is cumulative ; the reasons for speedy 
reform are cogent. 

The evil is not local ; it is as widespread as the 
Southern States. What is the staple of conversa- 
tion in every furnishing store of this territory dur- 
ing the closing days of December, 1893? ''How 
are they paying up ? Balances are many." 

A few more samples out of many will close this 
feature of the chapter. The unchanged business 
policy has still its grip on the people. The informa- 
tion was furnished by responsible men. " A negro 
made ten bales of cotton in 1892, which brought 
him $427. After paying his rent, for land and two 



Testimony Continued, 91 

mules, $135, and $292 to his merchant, he closed 
the year's work with a balance due for supplies 
of $60." 

The difference between cash and credit prices on 
three styles of vehicles was 42, 56, and 86 per cent. 
The difference on a number of articles of universal 
use on every farm was placed on an average at 33 
per cent, by our informant. Add to this the fact 
that the government at Washington appropriated 
$250,000 to ascertain the mortgage indebtedness of 
the country, part of which is in the South. But 
what is even this sum in comparison with the 
expense of recording the various liens on prop- 
erty ? The cost of recording the 30,000 liens in 
eleven counties of South Carolina in 1880 was 
$45,000. This burden had to be borne by the 
mortgageor. 

It would be interesting to know the annual ex- 
pense to record the liens of the South for the last 
twenty-eight years. If that sum was $250,000 for 
each year and for all the Southern States, and the 
cost of record for each lien $1.50, then the total cost 
for twenty-eight years was $8,000,000. This and 
other expenses formed a part of the general price on 
time. 

It is now proposed to show the difference between 
cash and credit prices by three tabular statements. 
The first will exhibit a comparison between $100 
credit price and the cash price, according to the 
rate per cent, opposite it, and which rate measures 
the advance of the credit above the cash price. The 
latter price is the valuation of merchandise on a 



The Ills of the South. 



cash basis. The same merchandise will cost Sioo, 
according to the rate per cent, this is above the 
cash valuation. 



TABLE A. 





PER CENT. ABOVE 




GAIN ON CASH 


CREDIT PRICE. 


CASH PRICE. 




BASIS. 


$IOO 


.80 


155-55 


$44.45 


lOO 


.70 


5S.82 


41.18 


lOO 


.60 


62.50 


37-50 


100 


.50 


66.66 


33-34 


lOO 


.45 


69.00 


31.00 


lOO 


.40 


71.42 


28.58 


lOO 


.35 


74.07 


25-63 


lOO 


.30 


• 76.92 


23.08 


lOO 


.25 


80.00 


20.00 


ICO 


.20 


83-33 


16.67 



The second table represents ten farmers, each of 
whom has bought annually merchandise on a credit 
basis to the value standing opposite his name. The 
second column shows the cash price, at a reduction 
of 25 per cent, on the face value of the credit price. 
This is the merchant's method of calculating per- 
centage. The other three columns show the gains 
on a cash basis at this rate for different periods of 
time. According to this plan, any man could have 
reached a cash basis in three years by reducing his 
purchase one-fourth per annum for this period. 



Testimony Continued. 



93 



TABLE B. 

Gains on a Cash Basis at 25 per cent, less than the Credit 
Price. 





CREDIT 
PRICE. 


CASH 
PRICE. 


GAINS ON CASH BASIS FOR 




I year. 


10 years. 


20 years. 


John Wilkes 

Henry Glass 

Peter Cooper 

Ralph Rowan 

Sam. Watts 

John Hicks 

3ick Hoag 

Tom. Wells 

Carl Upton 

Wm. Downs 


$100 
200 
300 
400 
500 
600 
700 
800 
900 

1,000 


l75 
150 
225 
300 
375 
450 
525 
600 

675 
750 


$25 

50 

75 
100 

125 
150 
175 
200 
225 
250 


$250 
500 
750 
1,000 
1,250 
1.500 
1,750 
2.000 
2.225 
2,500 


$500 
1,000 
1,500 
2,000 
2,500 
3,000 
3,500 
4,000 
4,500 
5,000 



The third form represents the business of 2,005 
persons. Here too, it is supposed that the credit 
price is 25 per cent, in advance of the cash price. 
Should this be denied, notwithstanding the evidence 
presented in this and preceding chapters, it is safe 
to beheve that the difference between the two 
prices, and the purchases that would not have been 
made on a cash basis, would fully save 25 per cent. 
The first column shows the number of buyers ; 
the second, the sum bought by each on credit ; the 
third, the total credit price of the whole class in 
column one ; the fourth, the total cash price of the 
whole class ; the last three columns represent the 
gains on a cash basis for three periods. 



94 



The Ills of the South. 



TABLE C. 

Credit and Cash Prices compared for 2.005 Persons. Dif- 
ference 25 per cent. Gains on a Cash Basis for one, 
ten, and twenty years. 





CREDIT 

PRICE FOR 

ONE. 


TOTAL 
CREDIT 
PRICE. 


TOTAL 
CASH 
PRICE. 


GAINS ON CASH BASIS 


PERSON'S. 


For 
I year. 


For 
10 years. 


For 
20 years. 


1,000 
200 
200 

y 125 
100 
80 

60 
50 
40 


$50 
100 
200 
300 
400 

700 
800 
900 


$50,000 
20,000 
40,000 
45,000 
50,000 
50,000 
48,000 
42,000 
40,000 
36,000 


$37,500 
15,000 
30,000 
33,750 
37,500 
37,500 
36,000 
31,500 
30,000 
27,000 


$12,500 
5,000 
10,000 
11,250 
12,500 
12,50c 
12,000 
10,500 
10,000 
9,000 


$125,000 
50.000 
100,000 
112,500 
112,500 
112,500 
120,000 
105,000 
100,000 
90,000 


5250,000 
ioo,coo 
200,000 
225,000 
225,000 
225,000 
240,000 
210,000 
200,000 
180,000 


Total 




$421,000 


$315,750 


$105,250 


$1,052,500 


S2, 105,000 







This calculation is based on an average sale of 
10,000 bales of cotton, at an average price of ten 
cents per pound for a period of twenty years. The 
figures of this table deserve to be studied by 
thoughtful men. Calmly, and without bitterness, 
what lesson does this statement impress upon me, 
upon you, upon the merchant, upon the farmer, in 
its bearing upon the duty of to-day as seen by the 
sad experience of yesterday? Ten thousand bales 
of cotton at 10 cents a pound are worth $450,000. 
In these twenty years, cotton ranged in price 
from 18 to 7 cents. The average 10 cents will 
hardly be regarded as too large. Two years' self- 
denial to the value of one-third of the supplies 
bought, would have brought the people to a cash 



Testimony Continued. 95 



basis. In twenty years, 2,005 persons, farmers, 
would have saved on this basis $2,105,000. This is 
a large sum. This is more than the valuation of 
all the property, real and personal, of many a first- 
class county in the Southern States. What more? 
It is probable that these 2,005 farmers are in debt 
to the full value of $200,000 to-day. What more ? 
Vast bodies of land have passed out of their pos- 
session. 

Is this a local representation confined to some 
one section? Is it not typical of the various com- 
munities of the cotton-growing States? If there is 
any force in evidence, such is the case. Variations 
there may be, and no doubt there are ; but the 
ruinous credit policy has depressed and burdened 
the farming people of all the Southern States. 

Mr. Joseph Baxendale, of England, placed in his 
warehouses and places of business various maxims 
as instructive reminders of valuable truths in prac- 
tical life. Being a humane and considerate man, he 
never lost sight of the interest and well-being of 
those in his employment. Some of these pithy 
sayings were " Never despair," " Time lost can not 
be regained," '' Let industry, temperance, and econ- 
omy be the habits of your lives," " He who spends 
all he gets is on the way to beggary." 

If ever there was a cause urgently demanding the 
exemplification of the last maxim, it is to be found 
in the general financial status of the Southern 
farmers. Take the illustration of the 2,005 ^^^' 
They have spent 28 cotton crops of 10,000 bales 
each, valued at $12,600,000. They have lost about 



96 The Ills of the South. 

150,000 acres of land, and are pressed with an 
indebtedness of probably not less than $200,000. 

Had the broad-minded, generous-hearted Baxen- 
dale been a merchant in our day, he would have 
advised heroic self-denial to those with whom he 
had dealings. One of his maxims was " Never to 
spend more than ninepence out of every shilling." 
Save one-fourth. There is hope in this plan. 
Again, he adds : " Upon industry and frugality our 
well-being depends." The counsel and disinterest- 
edness of such a man would inspire confidence, and 
would soon bring about a*n era of good feeling and 
prosperity. 



CHAPTER VII. 

AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS. 

" Most men work for the present, a few for the future. 
The wise work for both." 

HTEN Southern States are in arrears in food crops. 
^ The ratio of supply between i860 and 1880, 
i860 and 1890, is not equal to the increase of popu- 
lation of these periods. In twenty years the whole 
population in these States increased 53 per cent. ; 
in thirty years, 87 per cent. In the latter period the 
whites increased 93 per cent. ; the blacks, 'J'J per 
cent. The negroes are laborers, and in i860 they 
were all agricultural laborers. Skilled workmen are 
few. Their income comes under the heading of 
wages. Whether they rent farm land, or work on 
shares, or engage in other gainful pursuit, they are 
laborers, and their moneyed income must correspond 
to the kind of work they perform. 

Whatever the grain product of these States was 
in i860, the increase in twenty years should be 53 
per cent., and, in thirty years, 87 per cent. 

Two circumstances only can adjust this arrearage. 
First, that the excess of other than grain crops bal- 
anced the deficiency in moneyed valuation. Second, 
that a portion of the population of these States were 
engaged in other gainful industries, and that their 
7 



98 The Ills of the South. 

pecuniary income was equivalent to the loss sus- 
tained in grain. Another circumstance may be sug- 
gested : that the consumption of grain was less than 
in former years. 

In regard to the first circumstance, the evidence 
does not support any such conclusion. As to the 
second consideration, the manufacturing interests of 
the South displace but a comparatively small num- 
ber from the farms. Railroads and sawmills, and 
industries of this kind may have displaced a few 
hundred thousand blacks. Whatever the displace- 
ment of negro labor from the farm may be from 
these causes, it has been more than offset by the 
large increase of white labor. 

The inquiry deserving attention is, What are the 
facts in the arrearage of the grain crop \\\ the South ? 
The comparison is made with reference to Alabama, 
Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, 
North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and 
Texas. The status of these States will be a fair 
criterion by which to judge the South. In any 
event, the aggregate deficiency of these States in 
grain will not be denied. 

The following tables will show this condition. 
They were compiled from the reports of the Depart- 
ment of Agriculture. The first shows the yield of 
six grain crops in the ten States in i860 ; the second 
the yield of similar crops in 



Agricultural Products, 



99 



TABLE I. 

Cereals of i860.* 



Alabama 

Arkansas 

Florida 

Georg^ia 

Louisiana 

Mississippi 

North Carolina 
South Carolina 
Tennessee. . . 
Texas 

Total 



WHEAT. 


RYE. 


Bushels. 


Bushels. 


1,218,444 

957,601 

2,808 


72.457 
78,092 
21.300 


2,544,913 
32,208 


115,532 
36,065 


•587,925 
4,743,706 
1,285.631 
5.459,268 


39,474 
436,856 

89,091 
257-989 


1,478.345 


111,860 


18,310,849 


1,258,722 



INDIAN 
CORN. 



Bushels. 
33.226,282 

17,823,588 

2,834,391 

30.776,293 

16,853,745 

29,0^7,682 
30,078,^64 
15,065,606 
52.089,926 
16.500.702 

244,306,779 



OATS. 


BARLEY. 


Bushels. 


Bushels. 


682,179 


15,135 


475,268 


3,158 


46,899 


8,369 


1,231,817 


14,682 


89,377 


224 


221,235 


1,875 


2,781,860 


3,445 


936,974 


11,490 


2,267,814 


25,144 


985,889 


67,562 


9,719,312 


1,510,184 



BUCK- 
WHEAT. 



Bushels. 



,347 
509 



2,023 
160 
1,699 
55,924 
602 
[4,481 
1,349 



58,094 



TOTAL CEREALS IN THE TEN STATES IN i860. 

Wheat 18,310,849 bushels. 

Rye 1,258,722 

Indian corn 244,306,779 

Oats 9,719,312 

Barley 1,510,184 

Buckwheat 58,094 



Total 275,163,940 bushels. 



Tenth Census Report. 



oo 



The Ills of the South. 




TABLE II. 

Cereals of iSSq.* 



Alabama 

Arkansas . . . . 

Florida 

Georgia 

Louisiana 

Mississippi 

North Carolina 
South Carolina 

Tennessee 

Texas 

Total 



WHEAT. 


RYE. 


Bushels. 


Bushels. 


208,591 


14,618 


955-668 


15,181 


290 


13,389 


1,096,312 


87,021 


257 


374 


16,570 


3,544 


4,292.035 


276,609 


658-351 


I7>303 


8,300,789 


165,621 


4,272,392 


62,120 


19,901,255 


655,780 











OATS. 


BARLEY. 








Bushels. 


Bushels. 


Bushels. 


30,073,036 


3,231,085 


2,002 


33,982,318 


4,180,877 


994 


3,701,264 


391,321 


128 


29,261.422 


4,767,456 


6.053 


13,081,954 


297,271 


598 


26,148,144 


1,362,290 


875 


25.783,623 


4,512.762 


3.521 


13,770,417 


3,019,119 


9,428 


63,635,350 


7,355,100 


63,866 


69,031,493 


12,578,880 


47,692 
135,157 


318,469,021 


41,696,161 



BUCK- 
WHEAT. 



Bushels. 



4,622 

5,074 
126 

3,527 



345 
[2,621 

472 
7,143 
1,263 



35,193 



TOTAL CEREALS IN THE TEN STATES IN 1889. 

Wheat 19.901,255 bushels. 

Rye 655,780 

Indian corn 318,469,021 

Oats 41,696, 161 

Barley I35,i57 

Buckwheat 35, ^93 



Total 380,892,567 bushels. 



* Production of cereals, Eleventh Census. 



Agricicltiu^al Products, loi 

The grain crops increased 37 per cent, in twenty- 
nine years. Population increased during this period, 
87 per cent. The gain in round numbers was 105,- 
000,000 bushels. The gain of Florida, Tennessee, 
and Texas was 106,000,000 bushels in round numbers. 
The aggregate grain in bushels of seven of these 
States was less in 1889 than in i860. 

In 1888, the cotton crop in the ten States was 
6,898,020 bales, and brought §291,378,388.^'" This 
was a gain of a little over a million and a half bales, 
and this excess brought Southern farmers and 
planters nearly sixty-six million dollars ; but the 
corn and oat crops were in arrears in seven of these 
States, based upon the increase of population, about 
150,000,000 bushels, and these figures will about 
represent the valuation of the deficit of these two 
grain crops. Thus, it follows that the corn and 
oats absorbed the gain on cotton, with a large 
balance against the planter. 

Table III. will show that the productive prosper- 
ity of Southern farmers, fifteen years after the war, 
gave no signs of an improved condition. Such food 
crops as potatoes, peas and beans, hay and corn, 
were less in 1880 than in i860. 

* Report of the Commissioner of Agriculture for 1SS9, p. 229. 



I02 



The Ills of the South, 



TABLE III. 

Statistics of Agriculture for Ten States— Alabama, Ar- 
kansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North 
Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas.* 



Tobacco pounds 

Cotton bales 

Wool \ pounds 

Irish potatoes bushels 

Sweet potatoes " 

Peas and beans " 

Orchard products 

Product of market-gardens 

Dairy products — butter pounds 

*' " cheese " 

Sugar-cane hogsheads 

" maple pounds 

Molasses, cane gallons 

" sorghum " 

" maple " 

Bees' wax pounds 

Bees' honey " 

Hay tons 



i860. 



79,673,781 

5.331.439 
7,357,252 
4.354.673 
35,976,022 
10,986,789 
$2,056,428 
$1,705,712 
46,177,799 

527.545 

230,580 

151,065 

14,941,691 

1,409.765 

92,275 

625,902 

7,582,422 

641,731 



1880. 



57,791,641 

5,697,079 

13,950,094 

3,941,727 

25,939,990 

4,859.761 

$6,116,840 

$1,415,891 

74,131,166 

304,410 

178,872 

4,103 

16,573,273 

9,823,258 

4,270 

507,803 

8,511,088 

410,497 



The fact of this arrearage will be seen when we 
compare the total of these six grain crops with the 
population. In i860, there were 36 bushels per 
capita; in 1890, 27 bushels per capita — a difference 
of 9 bushels. The aggregate deficiency at this latter 
period, in these ten States, was 133,664,000 bushels. 

* Compendium, Tenth Census, Part I. 

f Texas alone in 1880 clipped 6,928,019 pounds. On eleven of these 
products there was a loss in 1880, when population had increased 53 
per cent. The corn was short in the ten States in 1880, as compared 
with i860, nearly 21,000,000 bushels. Measured by the increase of 
population, it was nearly short 112,000,000 bushels. 



Agriculhcral Products. 103 

The total deficiency in corn and oats alone was 
114,864,478 bushels, and in corn alone 138,384,655 
bushels. As there was a gain in the oat crop of 
31,976,849 bushels over i860, this must be deducted 
from the total loss of the corn crop, to make that 
estimate exact. The oat crop serves quite as well 
for the purpose of feeding live stock, as corn. The 
133,664,000 bushels of the six grain food crops, 
expresses the exact loss in the productive prosperity 
of the States. 

The correctness of this conclusion, measured by 
the increase of population, is reasonable. No indus- 
tries in the South have withdrawn any perceptible 
portion of the population from agricultural pursuits. 
But even if this w^ere the case, the food crops would 
still be necessary by the increased population. 
These food crops represent wealth just as much as 
cotton. The farm acreage for all crops in i860 was 
45,389,333 acres ; "^^ in 1880, the total acreage was 
58,740,689 — a gain of 29 per cent, in 20 years. If 
in the next ten years there should be a proportionate 
increase in acreage, then the whole enlarged farm 
area in the ten States will be 58 per cent, over i860. 
But as population gained 87 per cent., the disparity 
is apparent. To illustrate : if three million farmers 
out of a population of fifteen million cultivate forty- 
five million acres, thirty million people, it would 
seem natural, ought to furnish six million farmers 
cultivating ninety million acres. Three reasons may 
account for the inequality between the augmenta- 
tion of the farm area and population. First, dis- 
* Report on Agriculture, Tenth Census, p. xii. 



I04 



The Ills of the SoiUh, 



placement of labor from the farm. Second, intensive 
farming, and reducing the number of acres for field 
hands. Third, lazy and demoralized labor. 

The gains of all the crops were neither 29 per 
cent, for 1S80, nor 58 per cent, for 1890. Besides, 
42 per cent, of the population contributed nothing 
to the farm products, or sought employment in 
other pursuits. The arrearage in the grain crops of 
the ten States is indisputable. 

The following table exhibits the population of 
these States: 

TABLE IV. 

White Population. 



STATES. 


i860. 


1880. 


1890. 


Alabama 


526,271 

324.143 

77.746 

591.550 

357.456 

^53.899. 
629,942 
291.300 
826,723 
420,891 


662,185 

591.531 
142,605 
816,906 

454,954 
479.398 
867,242 
391,105 
1,138,831 
1,197,237 


830.796 
816,517 
224,416*. 
973.462 
454,712^ 
539.703 
1,049.191 

458,454-^ 
1.332,971 
1.741,190 


Arkansas 


.Florida 








North Carolina 

• South Carolina 


Tennessee 


Texas 


Total 


4,397,920 


6,741,994 


8,521,457 





Agric2tltitral Prodiuts. 



\o- 



TABLE V. 

Colored Population. 



STATES. 


i860. 


1880. 


1890. 


Al3.b3.rn3 


437,770 

111,259 
62.677 
465,698 
350,373 
437.404 
361,522 
412,320 
283,019 
182,921 


600,103 
210,666 
126,690 
725.133 
483,655 
650,291 

531,277 
604,332 

403,151 

393,384 


681,431 




311,227 


florida. 


166,678 


Gcors^is 


863,716 




562,893 


Mississippi . r . • . . ... 


747,720 




561,170 


Smith Carnlina 


692,503 
434,300 


Tennessee 


Texas 


492,837 






Total 


3.104.963 


4,728,682 


5,514,475 







While the grain crops in these States have varied 
each year from i860 to 1880, the aggregate deficiency 
during any one year can not be disputed. In 1886,"^^ 
the corn crop was less in five of the ten States. In 
Georgia, there was a gain of 520,707 bushels. There 
was a large increase in the oat crop in all the ten 
States at this time. Yet, in the States of North 
Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Missis- 
sippi, and Louisiana, there was only an aggregate 
gain in the combined corn and oat crops of a little 
over 4,250,000 bushels over i860. This was the gain 
in twenty-six years, when the population had nearly 
doubled itself. 

In considering the causes which have been mainly 
instrumental in producing the arrearage in food 
crops, a table will be given to show the human 
* Report of the Commissioner of Agriculture, 1S86, p. 368. 



io6 



The Ills of the South. 



working forces on Southern farms in these States. 
A comparison between the table following, and the 
table on population, will show what proportion of 
the people are engaged in agricultural pursuits. It 
is to be regretted that no data are at hand by which 
the human labor force of i860 could be compared 
with any subsequent period. It is hoped the 
twelfth census will give the country information as 
to the actual number of persons engaged in agri- 
cultural labor, of both races, white and black, male 
and female, of each race so engaged. It would be 
invaluable knowledge upon which to base conclu- 
sions for future action. 



TABLE VI. 
Persons Engaged in Agriculture in 1880.* 
10 Years and Over. 



By Ages, from 



STATES. 


MALE. 


FEMALE. 


TOTAL. 




291,477 
195,002 
47,465 
329.S56 
T47.538 
252,324 
314,228 
208,672 
275,620 
330,125 


89.153 
21,653 
11,266 
102,358 
57,768 
87,614 
46,709 
85,930 
18,533 
29,192 


380,630 
216,655 

58,731 
432,204 
205,306 
339,938 
360,937 
294,602 

294,153 
359.317 


Arkansas 


Florida 


Georgia 


Louisiana 




North Carolina 


South Carolina 


Tennessee 


Texas 




Total 


2,392,307 


550,166 


2,942,473 



The causes of this arrearage are, in the main, two- 
fold. One of these has been presented in a former 

^Census Report, 1880. 



Agricultural Proditcts. 107 

chapter. It is referred to here to show its bearing 
upon food crops. If the lessons these pages are to 
impress shall have any value, it must be done by 
giving line upon line. 

First, over-production of cotton has brought about 
the deficiency of grain crops in the South. The 
supply has been greater than the world's demand. 
Whatever other causes have operated against a 
remunerative price, this one cause has been chiefly 
instrumental in the result. Too much attention to 
cotton has reduced the crops of corn and oats. In 
i860, the cotton acreage was 12,000,000 acres." The 
increased acreage from that period to 1886 is 50 per 
cent. The American cotton is 57 per cent, of the 
world's product. 

Had corn and oats in the six States mentioned 
on a former page received equal attention with cot- 
ton, the gain in these two food crops would have 
been 80,000,000 bushels. If we value these grains 
as worth to the farmer, one dollar a bushel, cotton 
seven cents a pound, and estimate a bale of cotton 
at 450 pounds, it will take 2,544,444 bales to balance 
the account in the deficiency of corn and oats. 

"In June, 1870, when a large increase of cotton 
planting was reported, the declaration was made in 
the Monthly that the ' cotton growers seem deter- 
mined to reduce the price to 15 cents,' which was 
accomplished within six months, by an increase of 
the cotton crop from a little more than three mil- 
lions of bales to nearly four and a half millions ; and 

* Report of the Commissioner of Agriculture, 1886, pp. 382, 386. 



io8 The Ills of the South. 

in the report of June, 1870, it was stated that the 
penalty of growing four milHons of bales instead of 
three, was a reduction of seven cents per pound, 
equivalent to $130,000,000 on the crop. Short- 
sighted political economists objected to that phase 
of presentation of the resulting loss, as incorrect ; 
but when four millions of bales, at $76 per bale, 
produce but $304,000,000, while three millions of 
bales, at $109 per bale, bring $327,000,000, or $23,- 
000,000 more for the smaller crop than for the 
larger, there is the additional loss of the labor em- 
ployed in making the extra million of bales, instead 
of producing food and forage supplies, now obtained 
at ruinous cost from the North ; and all these losses, 
with their incidental results in thwarting systematic 
rotation and recuperative cropping, will far exceed 
the $130,000,000 of the above calculations. 

"The crop of 1871, partly from diminution of 
area and partly from diminished yield, has probably 
fallen to the plane of that of 1869, and the price has 
advanced in almost equal proportion. While the 
recommendations of these reports, respecting the 
production of cotton, have been bitterly assailed by 
speculators and dealers, the positions taken are 
impregnable, viz. : that these fluctuations of produc- 
tions and price are injurious alike to producers and 
manufacturers; that cotton in the Gulf States, while 
the prominent crop, should not be grown so exclu- 
sively as to run the price below a living profit and 
create a debt for provisions and supplies ; that no 
one crop, which can scarcely average for years to 
come, however large it may be, a value of $300,000,- 



Agricttltural Products. 109 

000, . . . can alone make the South a wealthy 
or even thriving community." 

This one thing the South has done. From 1865 
to 1890, cotton planting has been a mania. The 
neglected corn field with all its consequences is a 
part of Southern history. 

The second cause instrumental in the arrearage of 
grain crops is to be found in the condition of negro 
labor. *' The negro will not raise corn," is a com- 
mon remark. This indifference to corn growing and 
food crops generally, is an element of a large unit. 
The matter of inquiry here is the negro's relation 
to field crops, especially the grain crops. 

By examining Table VI., showing the persons en- 
gaged in agriculture, we have the whole number so 
employed in 1880. After much inquiry of practical 
men, farmers and others, an analysis of the whole 
number of agricultural laborers, furnishes the follow- 
ing data : 25 per cent, of the whole are white men — 
it may be larger; the remainder are all blacks, 15 
per cent, of the males are old slave negroes; 85 per 
cent, of the males, born since 1845, practically know 
nothing of slavery, and the others are females, 
assumed to be colored. These arranged in classes 
will give the following tabular statement with the 
per cent, each class is of the whole. The rate per 
cent, is approximately accurate. 



I lO 



The Ills of the South. 



TABLE VII. 
Persons Engaged in Agriculture in 1880, Classified. 



White males 

Old slave negroes, males. 
Younger negroes, males . 
Colored females 



Total. 



598,076 

269,135 

[,525,100 

550,166 



2,942,473 



.25 
•75 



The concurrent testimony of farmers and others is 
that the value of the work of negroes on the farm, as 
compared with the same kind of work done in slave 
time under humane masters, and that work under 
no effective supervision to-day, may be thus ex- 
pressed ; the value of the work done by the old 
slave negroes is 50 per cent, of what it was in olden 
times ; that of the younger negro men, 30 per cent.; 
and that of the colored females, 20 per cent. We 
write of them as classes. The work done covers an 
entire year. The standard of measurement is rea- 
sonable work prior to the manumission of this 
people. The result of this investigation may be 
stated in the following : 

TABLE VIII. 
Value of Negro Work on the Farm in 1880. 





NO. 


PER CENT, 




134,567 
457,530 
110,033 


•50 




•30 




.20 






Total 


702,130 









Agricultural Products, 1 1 1 

The substance of the estimate is that 2,344,401 
negroes working on farms in 1880 do as much work 
as was done by 702,130 negroes prior to their 
emancipation. Is the estimate unreasonable ? Ac- 
curacy is not claimed for the statement. It is not 
far from the truth. 

The elements of deterioration in the quality and 
quantity of the work done by the colored people 
are known to all the Southern States. In their 
present condition this people as a class, undirected, 
waste much valuable time ; their racial quality, 
laziness, here as in Hayti and the English West 
Indies, has few checks ; they are proverbially poor 
managers of their own affairs; the future, with its 
interests, is one long day-dream. To them, more 
than any other people, the present hour is life. 
These are acknowledged facts. What reduction in 
work will these elements produce during twelve 
months ? 

The average value of this labor according to the 
estimate is 32 per cent. The average colored laborer 
that produced in i860, 100 pounds cotton, 100 
pounds corn, 100 pounds fodder, 100 pounds field 
peas, 100 pounds sweet potatoes, has reduced this 
average to-day in each of these productions to 32 
pounds. Then he aided in raising the meat supply. 
Now the majority of colored people raise no hogs. 
He kept up the repairs of the farm ; his work has 
been fully reduced to the same per cent, in this par- 
ticular. As it takes three colored farm hands to 
produce as much to-day as one produced in a for- 
mer period, the effect on food crops is evident. 



1 1 2 The Ills of the South. 

Colored labor on an average produces more than 
32 per cent, of cotton as compared with the quan- 
tity produced in the period before the civil war. 
As this is the crop bringing money, it receives 
special attention. The general opinion, however, is 
that the number of colored farm people producing 
two and three bales of cotton per hand is far in ex- 
cess of those producing four and five bales per hand. 

That the grain crops, essential to Southern pros- 
perity, have not been in proportion to the increase 
in population, Tables L, II., and III. of this chapter 
fully exhibit, The facts showing this to the year 
1880 are clear. The ten years following have been 
years of depression. The leading newspapers of the 
South have urged and warned the farming commu- 
nity to attend to the corncrib and the smokehouse 
— to live at home. These admonitory appeals have 
resounded through the land annually. A certain per 
cent, of farmers have heeded this important matter, 
especially small white proprietors, and some excel- 
lent colored landowners. But 75 per cent, of farm 
labor, according to the estimate in 1880, was col- 
ored people. In 1890, colored labor on the farm 
probably did not exceed 60 per cent. The majority 
of this people work under the metayer, or share 
system, or rent plan. This majority class neglect 
food crops of every sort. The fact that the over- 
production of cotton has pressed the price down to 
seven cents is proof in itself of the evil here pre- 
sented. This indifference or hostility of the colored 
people to the raising of corn is seriously affecting 
them and the country. 



Agricultural Prcducts. 1 1 3 

Seventy-five per cent, of the actual farm popula- 
tion producing less than one-third of the amount 
formerly raised is a fatal blow at prosperity. Detri- 
mental as this is to the interest of both white and 
black, yet the situation wears a darker and gloomier 
hue when it is considered that horses and necessary 
farm appliances and food supplies furnished are 
based upon 100 laborers. This number, however, 
represents 32 hands, and these, without reference to 
the 68, raise an insufficient quantity of corn, potatoes, 
and peas for themselves, and the meat raised by them 
is a modicum of what they need. To our understand- 
ing of the facts, the conclusion is unavoidable, that 
the 2,344,401 colored farm laborers of the South, 
constituting three-fourths of the whole, have vastly 
reduced the food crops, their labor deteriorating to 
less than one-third in value, and have largely dimin- 
ished farm values. 

Corroborative testimony from other lands where 
the Hamites are in possession of freedom and civil 
rights, confirms the conclusion. The history of 
Hayti is a mournful record of misgovernment and 
retrogression. In 1789 the negroes massacred the 
French and achieved their independence. Their 
freedom extends over a century. At its beginning 
they numbered 56,666 freedmen, black and colored, 
and 509,642 slaves. It is reasonable to suppose that 
in a hundred years this population increased to a 
million and a half, even when full allowance is made 
for the loss of life incident to their numerous wars. 
The inspiration of freedom, the government in their 
own hands, sole masters of the western half of San 



114 The Ills of the South. 

Domingo, every vocation in life and every avenue 
to advancement open, and the markets of the world 
ready to purchase the productions of their soil, 
should have increased productions threefold, and 
exports in the same ratio. The facts here recited 
are taken from the book on " Hayti, or the Black 
Republic," by Sir Spencer St. John. He was Min- 
ister Resident and Consul-General, representing the 
British Government in Port-au-Prince from 1863 to 
1875. 

PRODUCTIONS OF HAYTI IN 1789. 

Coffee 88,360,502 lbs. 

Sugar, white and brown 161,000,000 " 

Cotton , 8,400,000 " 

In subsequent years these productions never again 
reached the same quantity, nor were there any other 
productions that took their place. In 1821 the 
quantity of sugar was so small that it was struck 
from the custom-house lists. The figures now to be 
given will fairly represent the retrograde movement. 
They express the production of some of the best 
years during the period of freedom. 

TRODUCTIONS OF HAYTI DURING THE ERA OF 

FREEDOM. 

Sugar. 

Year 1821 600,000 lbs. 

" 18S8 , 1,900,000" 

Cotton. 

Year 1835 1,649,717 lbs. 

" i860 688,735" 

" 1865 4,000,000" 

" 1886 2,037,000" 



Agricultural Products, 



115 



Coffee. 

Year 1818 20,280,589 lbs. 

" 1863 71,712,345 '• 

•' 1886 58,075,739" 

In 1875 the estimate was that population had 
increased to about a million and a half. The 
exports in 1789 were from $30,000,000 to $40,000,000. 
The following year they were $55,000,000. The 
highest exports since that period amount to $11,- 
500,000.* 

An American poet has said, ''The people make 
the country, but no country can make the people." f 
Energy and thrift and self-respect come not from 
the soil. 

The evidence from the fifteen English West 
Indian colonies is similar to that of Hayti. In 
these colonies were, in 1834, 750,000 African slaves 
when they were emancipated. The government 
paid the owners $100,000,000, or i^20,ooo,ooo, for 
the negroes. Let us examine the effect on agricul- 
tural production. Jamaica is one of the largest of 
these colonial islands. 



PRODUCTION IN JAMAICA, t 



Sugfar, cwts. . 
Rum, gals. . . 
Pimento, lbs. 
Coffee, lbs, . . 



1834. 



1,500,000 

2,697,324 

3,605.400 

17,725,731 



599-737 
1,694,606 
6,850,54s 
6,145,362 



1867. 



515.902 
1,769,716 
4,866,239 
6,264,861 



* Hayti, or Black Republic, p, 372. 

f Alexander H. Stephens. 

X Chambers' Encyclopaedia, vol. v., p. 674. 



1 1 6 The Ills of the South. 

Mr. James Anthony Froude visited these islands in 
1887. A few of his utterances, or those quoted by 
him, are here recited: 

*' The public debt had increased, and taxation was 
heavy. Many gentlemen in Jamaica, as in the 
Antilles, were selling or trying to sell their estates 
and go out of it." * 

" Col. J , acting governor, confirmed the 

complaint which I had heard so often, that the 
blacks would not work for wages more than three 
days in the week, or regularly upon those, prefer- 
ring to cultivate their own yams and sweet pota- 
toes." t 

" Fine properties all about the island were in the 
market for any price which purchasers could be 
found to give. Too many even of the old English 
families were tired of the struggle, and were longing 
to be out of it at any cost.":}: 

Of Grenada he says : " Such a scene of desolation 
and desertion I never saw in my life save once, a 
few weeks later at Jamaica." § 

St. Lucia : *' The chief complaint is the somewhat 
weary one of the laziness of the blacks, who, they 
say, will work only when they please, and are never 
fully awake except at dinner-time." || 

"The English of those islands are melting away; 
that is a fact to which it is idle to try to shut our 
eyes. Families who have been for generations 
on the soil are selling their estates everywhere, and 

* The English in the West Indies, p. 200. 

\ Ibid., p. 211. X Ibid., p. 231. 

^ Ibid., p. 54. II Ibid., p. 134. 



Agricultural Products. 1 1 7 

are going off. Lands once under high cultivation 
are lapsing into jungle." "^ 

Dominica : '* The soil was as rich as the richest in 
the world. The cultivation was growing annually 
less." t 

Barbadoes : '' The great prosperity of the island 
ended with emancipation." ij; 

The final outcome of this investigation is dis- 
couraging. Credible witnesses in large number, 
unbiased by passion or interest, from these lands, 
have placed themselves upon record. Free Hamitic 
labor deteriorates in value, year by year. The prod- 
ucts of the soil diminish in like proportion. Debts 
and perplexities confront the people whose interests 
are endangered. The facts and figures of the 
Southern States cover a period extending over a 
quarter of a century; of the English West Indies, 
more than half a century ; and of Hayti, a full 
century. The results of Hamitic labor, to which 
these American territories testify by authoritative 
record, is strikingly unit-like. It is not the report 
of a narrow district. 

In Hayti, where the Hamites are in absolute con- 
trol, the agricultural condition has steadily gone 
from bad to worse. In the English West Indies, 
where the negroes are proprietors, as in Grenada, or 
labor as tenants or on the share system, as in Bar- 
badoes and in other islands, the outlook is gloomy. 
In the Southern States, a combination of causes 
have placed the people between the upper and 

* " The English in the West Indies," p. 284. 
t lb., p. 143. X lb., p. 105. 



ii8 



The Ills of the South. 



nether mill-stones. One of these is the failure to 
raise ample food crops. Unless the colored people 
can be induced to attend to food crops as essential 
to their material well-being, the day of agricultural 
prosperity is in the far-distant future. The history 
of the past twenty-five years, crowded with mistakes 
and delusions, furnishes not one ray of hope, without 
this essential basis upon which to build. 

As proof of the tardy progress of the Southern 
people, traceable largely to the various causes 
related in these pages, note the value of farms in 
the two tables following : 

TABLE IX. 

Value of Farms.* 
Note. — The valuation refers to lands, houses, and fences. 



Alabama 

Arkansas 

Florid^ 

Georgia 

Louisiana 

Mississippi 

North Ca4-olina 
South Carolina 

Tennessee 

Texas 

Total 



$78,954,648 
74,249,655 
20,291,835 

111,910,540 
58,989,117 
92,844,915 

135,793,^02 
68,677,482 

206,749,837 

170,468,886 



$1,018,930,517 



i860. 



1175,824,622 
91,649,773 
16,435,721 
157,072,803 
204,7^89,662 
190,760,367 
143,301,065 
139,652,508 

271,358,985 
88,101,320 



$1,478,946,826 



* Compendium, Tenth Census, Part I., p. 658. 



Agricultural Products, 



119 



TABLE X. 
Value of Farms. 



STATES. 


1880. 


i860. 


Connecticut 

Dakota 


$121,063,910 

22,401,084 

1,009,594,580 

635,236,111 

567,430,227 

499,103,181 

193,724,260 

75,834,389 

1,127,497,353 

109,346,010 


$90,830,005 

2,085,265 

408,944,033 

356,712,175 
392,662,441 
160.836.495 

27,505.922 

69,689,761 

678,132.991 

94,289,045 


Illinois 


Iowa 




Minnesota 

New Hampshire 

Ohio 


Vpfmont 




Total 


$4,361,231,105 


$2,281,688,133 





The increase of acreage referred to on a former page 
belongs wholly to the States of Arkansas, Florida, 
Tennessee, and Texas. They increased their acre- 
age 13,606,469 acres in twenty years. Of this num- 
ber, 9,999,633 belong to Texas alone. 

Georgia, Louisiana, and Mississippi increased their 
acreage 331,008 ; on the other hand, Alabama, North 
Carolina, and South Carolina reduced the number of 
acres in cultivation 486,120. The six States con- 
sidered as a whole show a deficit of 155,112 acres in 
cultivation. This reduction took place in spite of 
the fact that population increased 53 per cent, from 
i860 to 1880. 

Another determinate factor directly related to 
the question of food crops has been brought to our 
notice upon further investigation of the causes 
affecting Southern prosperity. 



1 20 The Ills of the Sotith, 

In 1870 the aggregate cotton crop was 3,011,996 
bales; in 1879 ^^^^ cotton crop was 5,755,359 bales.* 
The increase is 91 per cent. At the former period 
the price was 23^- cents per pound ; at the latter 
period it was 9y% cents per pound. This is a loss of 
13A cents on each pound, or 1.37 per cent. That is, 
a bale weighing 450 pounds on an average brought, 
in 1870, $105.75; in 1879, $44-55- In other words, 
the smaller crop brought to the cotton farmer 
$62,117,333.55 more than the larger crop. 

If there is any virtue in comparisons, such facts 
enforce attention. What effect did this large crop 
have on corn, oats, sweet potatoes, field peas, hay, 
fodder, and bacon? There is but one answer: less 
than was needed, and less money besides. 

* Tenth Census, volume on Agriculture, page xxvii. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THE FARM LEAKS. 

HTHE history of the world is made up of a vast 
^ number of little things. Success and failure 
in life have their origin here. " Despise not the 
day of small things," is good counsel. The com- 
plaints against ill-fortune would rarely be heard, 
should attention to small matters become the rule. 
The road to poverty is a zigzag journey paved with 
neglect in little things. A little extravagance in 
domestic affairs, a little time lost this week, and a 
little lost every week, and a little inattention to this 
important matter, and then some other affair, will 
soon show their effects upon the prosperous condi- 
tion of any man. These little things are efficient 
agents to reduce profits. A little leak will sink a 
ship ; a little fire may do great damage ; a little 
carelessness may wreck a railway train ; and a little 
bad management may make prosperous farming im- 
possible. Excellent management in all kinds of indus- 
try is a much rarer virtue than some people suppose. 
Every man wishes to make headway in his busi- 
ness. This is right ; it is praiseworthy. Without 
such reasonable ambition there is no progress. The 
man who is satisfied to live from hand to mouth 
deserves no commendation. It is a kind of content- 
ment that is of no use. There is no glory in the 



122 The Ills of the South. 

resolve to be a beggar, and there is no manliness to 
fold one's hands in despair. It is brave to push 
forward. Improvement is the law of progress. 

A thorough understanding of the particulars of 
any honorable industry is essential to success; what 
relation has each upon the other, and all of them 
upon the end to be attained ? Then there must be 
a plan, faithfully carried out. This need not be of 
the cast-iron material, but some method must be 
adopted according to which the business shall be 
conducted. What is this but an orderly arrange- 
ment of time and labor to the objects demanding 
attention ? The man who blunders and blusters 
about his work is not a model in any vocation of 
life, and is rarely prosperous. The calm, steady 
worker, cheerful and self-reliant, pursuing the course 
marked out, calculating gains and losses, is, as a gen- 
eral rule, the man that wins success, even from 
untoward circumstances. If one plan does not work, 
a better plan may. 

Merchants may increase their gains by a number 
of methods. They may extend and enlarge their 
business ; they may eliminate risky and unprofitable 
customers; they may decline to deal in certain 
commodities that experience has shown not to be 
remunerative; they may reduce expenses. In all 
this there is common sense. 

Whenever there are leaks that reduce profits 
below the point of reasonable remuneration for 
labor and capital, there is always a first thing to do. 
To find the cause is the prime consideration. No 
remedy can be applied until this has been found. 



The Farm Leaks. 123 

It makes no difference where the leaks are, whether 
in the home, the mercantile house, the factory, or 
the farm, the same principles govern. It controls 
every business of whatever nature, however small or 
great. The leaks must be found before they can be 
stopped. 

In great manufacturing establishments five factors 
are necessary to their prosperous management. 
There must be ample capital ; sufificient labor, skilled 
and common ; rapid production of goods ; quick 
sales ; and competent superintendence. A defect 
in any one of these elements may reduce dividends 
to zero, or bring disaster to the enterprise. Inefifi- 
cient superintendence is a large and serious defect. 
The man who cannot grasp the parts of such a 
business is sure to bring swift misfortune to all 
concerned. 

In former chapters various causes have been 
considered operating detrimentally to the farmer. 
Another is now to be examined. It is another leak, 
through which have trickled millions of dollars that 
should be in the pockets of the Southern farmers, 
or invested in permanent improvements. Let us 
call it the Southern Live Stock Leak. 

The deficiency in animal products in the ten 
States is such that it is worthy the serious attention 
of all farmers. The year 1890 is compared with 
i860. There can be no question as to the effect of 
this condition upon Southern prosperity. This lack 
of animals robs the farmer of a large percentage of 
profits. It is a factor that invariably adds to his 
poverty. It is a loss, especially the swine product, 



124 ^-^^ ^^^^ of the SotttJi. 

for which no cotton-lint, pound for pound, is a 
compensation. 

The general condition in the number of the six 
classes of animals at two periods, thirty years apart, 
is indicated in the three tables following. If we 
omit Texas the loss in sheep was 23 per cent, in 
1890; in all the ten States there were less hogs in 
1890 than in i860. In nine States, omitting Texas, 
the loss at the latter period exceeded a million head. 
It would take five hundred thousand bales of cotton 
to stop this leak. In milch cows there is a gain of 
28 per cent. Omitting Texas, there is a gain of 12 
per cent, in other cattle in the nine States. The gain 
in horses is 10 per cent., if Texas be omitted. The 
largest gain in the ten States is 72 per cent, in mules. 
Three-fourths of them were probably imported, and 
paid for in cotton. 

As a digression from the topic under consideration, 
this increase in the number of mules, largely used 
on farms, furnishes strong grounds for the belief 
that agricultural laborers have increased nearly in 
the same ratio as population. It is believed that 
the increase of white labor is in excess of colored 
labor. Probably 30 per cent, of the colored popula- 
tion has been displaced from the farms and is now 
found in the towns and villages of the South. The 
displacement and depreciated labor of this people 
has in part been counterbalanced by the increase of 
white labor. The aggregate number of laborers is 
larger than in i860; but the 29 percent, increase in 
acreage is less than the gain in labor, and the gain 
in mules. Besides, nearly three-fourths of this in- 



The Farm Leaks, 



125 



crease in acreage belongs to Texas, as elsewhere 
shown, and in that State the white population has 
more than quadrupled since i860. 

The tables following furnish the material for any 
comparison between the two periods indicated, of 
the progress of any one of the ten States in refer- 
ence to the increase or decrease of the six classes of 
animals named. 

TABLE I. 
Live Stock, i860. 



STATES. 


NO. SHEEP. 


NO. SWINE. 


NO. MILCH 
COWS. 


NO. OTHER 
CATTLE. 


Alabama . . . 


370,156 
202,753 
30,158 
512,618 
181,253 
352,632 
546,749 
233,509 
773,317 
753,363 

3,956,508 


1,748,321 

1,171,630 

271,742 

2,036,116 

634,525 
1,532,768 
1,883,214 

965,779 
2,347,321 

1,371,532 

13,962,948 


230,537 
171,003 

92,974 
299,688 
129,662 
207,646 
228,623 
163,938 
249,514 
601,540 


454,543 
318,089 

287,725 
631,707 
326,787 
416,660 
416,676 
320.209 
413,060 
2,761,736 


Arkansas 


Florida. . . ........ 

Georgia 


Louisiana 


Mississippi 

North Carolina 

South Carolina 

Tennessee 

Texas 


Total 


2,475,025 


6,346,192 





TABLE II. 
Live Stock, 1890. 



STATES. 


NO. SHEEP, 


NO. SWINE. 


NO. MILCH 
COWS. 


NO. OTHER 
CATTLE. 




286,238 
269,484 
110,351 
411,846 
115,082 
240,148 
414,819 
102,031 
511,118 
4,752,640 

7,213,757 


1,530,001 
1,663,275 

358,021 
1,627,008 

706,947 
1,443,813 
1,291,893 

670,652 
2,242,215 
2,321,246 


311,805 

329,121 

54,951 

354,618 

177,613 
309,234 
272,155 
156,575 
377,740 
843,342 

3,187,154 


454,042 

587,212 
565,201 
580,816 

295,731 
441.862 

398,414 

210,396 

484.578 

7,167,853 


Arkansas 


Florida 




Louisiana 


Mississippi 

North Carolina 

South Carolina 

Tennessee 


Texas 




Total 


13,855,071 


11,186,105 





126 



The Ills of the South, 



TABLE III. 
Live Stock. 



STATES 


i860. 


1890. 




HORSES. 


MULES. 


HORSES. 


MULES. 


Alabama 


127,063 
140,198 

13,446 
130,771 

78,703 
117,571 

150,661 

81.125 
290,882 

325,69s 


111,687 
57,358 
10,910 

101,069 
91,762 

110,723 
5I.3S8 
56,456 

126,345 
63,334 


134,805 
187,153 
34,737 
115,629 
124,650 
139,468 
154,229 

70,303 
303,206 

1,350,344 


143,258 
129,866 

13,000 
155,700 

94,785 
196.436 

96,295 

79,269 
229,246 
213,146 


Arkansas 


Florida 




Louisiana 


North Carolina 

South Carolina 


Texas 


Total 


1,456,118 


781,032 


2,614,524 


1,351,001 





The large decrease in sheep and swine in 1890, as 
compared with i860, is apparent. No compensating 
crop has been found to make up this loss. The 
loss pointed out is only partial. It does not express 
the full damage. Let us suppose that in i860 one- 
half of the colored population were engaged in farm 
labor, and that one-twentieth of the white popula- 
tion were so occup-ied. A certain quantity of animal 
food was necessary to their sustenance. In 1890, 
the colored population had increased JJ per cent., 
and the white population 91 per cent., in the States 
under consideration. The increase of the two races 
was about 87 per cent., or, taking the above rates as 
a basis, 84 per cent. The white farming population 
in 1890 represented not less than one-tenth of this 



TJie Farin Leaks. 127 

race. If, now, we make full allowance for the dis- 
placement of colored people from the farm, yet the 
increase of this race will justify the conclusion that 
the number on farms in 1890 is much greater than 
in i860, whether the whole number is actively 
engaged in work or not. They are there, and must 
be provided with food. Whatever, therefore, may 
have been the changes in location and work of the 
colored people, supposed to be 30 per cent., their 
aggregate increase and the increase of white farm 
labor will warrant the conclusion that the total 
increase of farm labor, or those living on farms and 
so named, is equal to the aggregate increase of 
population. The people are on the soil, and the 
bulk are in the rural districts. 

In order that the status of wealth of 1890 in these 
States may correspond with the increase of popula- 
tion, the increase of the six classes of animals should 
be 84 per cent. If eighteen thousand pounds of 
bacon were required to sustain one hundred persons 
in i860, thirty-three thousand pounds will be required 
to sustain one hundred and eighty-four persons in 
1890. The greatest diminution is in the supply of 
animals used for food. 

The difference between that species of farm capital 
sustaining life in i860 and the losses sustained up to 
the year 1890, on this capital, may be presented in 
tabular form. The figures represent, in round num- 
bers, the 84 per cent, on the capital of i860. It is 
an approximate estimate of annual losses. 



128 The Ills of the South. 



BALANCE SHEET OF LOSSES. 

Hogs, 12,000,000 @ $5 $60,000,000 

Sheep, 175.000 (^ $2 350.C00 

Corn and oats, 50,000,000 @ 50 cts 25,000,000 

Field peas, 15,000,000 @ 50 cts 7,500,000 

Sweet potatoes, 40,000,000 @ 50 cts. . . . 20,000,000 

Milch cows, 1,300,000 @ $15 19,000,000 

Other cattle, 500,000 @ $6 3,000,000 

Total $135,000,000 

This is the annual leak. Put it at $100,000,000. 
It will take three million bales of cotton to pay this 
deficiency. By referring to the tables of this and 
the preceding chapter, it will be observed that the 
figures express an aggregate loss. The burden falls 
most heavily upon some of the States. Some of 
them raise considerable quantities of wheat — such 
as Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia, and Texas. 
South Carolina raises rice, and Louisiana cane. The 
gain in sheep during thirty years in the ten States 
is a little over two and a half million, but as the 
increase in Texas is over three and a half million, 
nine of the States have a less number of sheep than 
in i860. The increase in horses is a little over a 
million, but nine hundred thousand belong to Texas. 
The increase of mules is the most uniform in all 
these ten States. 

In further illustration of this leak, the information 
was obtained from a merchant in a town of Missis- 
sippi, that, in fifteen years, the firm of which he was 
a partner had sold 4,500,000 pounds of bacon ; 
average, 300,000 pounds a year. The firm bought 



The Farm Leaks. 129 

annually from 2,500 to 3^000 bales of cotton. About 
one-third of the customers bought no meat. The 
price of meat is generally higher than the price of 
cotton. It is fair to suppose that one-third of the 
cotton delivered to this mercantile firm paid for 
bacon. 

If for every 2,000 bales of cotton, being two- 
thirds of the whole bought, 300,000 pounds of bacon 
are sold, then a cotton crop of 6,000,000 bales repre- 
sents a demand for 60,000,000 pounds of bacon. 
One-third of this crop goes for bacon. No man 
living in the South questions the fact that the 
quantity of Western meat sold in the South annu- 
ally is enormous. Every furnishing merchant in the 
cotton belt is a witness to this truth. 

The inference from these considerations is both 
just and practical, that, if the necessary quantity of 
meat is raised at home, the demand for credit is 
reduced one-third, with all its burdens and vexa- 
tions. It is a long step toward independence and 
prosperity. 

One commercial crop cannot secure this end in 
the Southern States. The experience of thirty 
years furnishes ample proof. The loss in quantity 
of corn, oats, sweet and Irish potatoes, rye, wheat, 
hay, sheep, and swine, in the State of Mississippi in 
1880, as compared with i860, at a moderate valua- 
tion, was $9,000,000. In 1 890-1-2, her cotton crop 
of 900,000 bales brought between $35,000,000 and 
$40,000,000. The increase in mules, in 1890, was JJ 
per cent. An increase of nearly 86,000 mules over 
the number in i860 would consume from 5,000,000 
9 



130 The Ills of the South. 

to 6,000,000 bushels of corn. There was also an 
increase of more than 130,000 horses. Her popu- 
lation had increased, in thirty years, 62 per cent. 
Notwithstanding this augmentation of more than 
200,000 work animals, and nearly 500,000 human 
beings, the food products were less in 1870, less in 
1880, less in 1890, and less in 1892, than in i860. 

With slight variations, this is the status in the 
States of the cotton belt. No argument can justify 
the policy of concentrating capital and labor upon 
the production of the one commercial crop, increas- 
ing it beyond the world's demand, steadily lowering 
the price, and then buying Western corn and hay 
and meat at an advance of 50 and 100 per cent, of 
that received for cotton, 

If the fertilizers now used on cotton were reduced 
one-half, and this half, in addition to the quantity 
already used, was applied to corn land, the effect 
upon the financial condition of Southern farmers 
would show itself advantageously in twelve months. 
Hog and hominy are intimately related. The gain 
on the home-raised pork, it is estimated, is 50 per 
cent, on the nominal value of corn. When the 
smoke-house is five hundred miles from the farm, 
the railroad freight on bacon, the handling it by 
merchants, and buying it on long time, makes it a 
very costly article to the cotton farmer. 

A table on the cost of fertilizers, and the cost of 
building and repairing fences, is here given. It will 
serve the purpose of information, and may lead to 
efforts to supplement the commercial fertilizers with 
the preparing of an invaluable home article. The 



The Farm Leaks, 



131 



figures refer to the year 1879. The fence question 
is a matter pressing more and more upon the atten- 
tion of farmers every year. The old rail fence will 
soon be a thing of the past. 

TABLE IV. 
Cost of Fertilizers and Fences, 





* FERTILIZERS. 


t FENCES. 




$1,200,956 

108,732 

72,642 

4,346,920 

278.305 

123,253 

2,111,767 

2,659,969 

157.442 

74,796 


$1,402,609 

I,579>i44 
366,180 
1,834,625 
1,482,121 
1,560,119 
1,869,654 
917,000 
2,426.008 
3,676,603 


Arkansas 


Florida 




Louisiana 

Mississippi 




South Carolina 


Tennessee 


Texas 




Total 


$11,134,784 


$17,114,063 





There is no doubt that active industry has been 
on the increase in the South during the past thirty 
years. The sum of workers is greater to-day than in 
i860. Thousands of white men have gone to work. 
The number of colored men on farms is equal 
to, if not greater than, the number in slave times. 
Thousands, however, have gone to the towns and 
sought other employment. The colored women 
doing light work in the fields in slave times, do but 
a fraction of that work to-day. Yet when all the 
facts are fairly considered, the conviction is well 

* Tenth Census, Vol. on Agriculture, p. 103. 
f Ibid., p. 25. 



132 The Ills of the Soitth. 

grounded that the active labor force on Southern 
farms is larger to-day by 50 per cent, than in the 
past. The cotton crop has increased to nearly 
8,000,000 bales. 

Now, what is the compensation to the toilers? 
What is the financial status of the men who have 
produced twenty-seven commercial crops? Has all 
this money been consumed on food, clothing, and 
appliances? What is the increase in fixed capital? 
What in real estate? When the debts are sub- 
tracted, how does the valuation of property owned 
by 3,000,000 of farmers in the South compare in 
1890 with i860? No reference is here made to the 
slave property, valued at $1,250,000,000. It is not 
considered in the comparison. The prosperous 
farmers are few ; those who have made a bare liv- 
ing are not many ; those who have consumed their 
farm possessions and the crops made thereon are 
thousands ; those who are poor to-day are legions. 

There must be something wrong in the general 
management. Thirty years' experience ought to 
satisfy any man of the correctness of this proposi- 
tion. It is high time to institute an earnest search 
for leaks, and, when found, close them forever. 
What a monotonous plaint we hear at the end and 
beginning of each year ! The last eight are grum- 
bling weeks about bills and prices ; the first eight 
weeks are begging weeks for new advances. The 
leaks in management, the leaks in buying, and the 
leaks in waste have had much to do in bringing 
about this pitiable condition. 

Suppose that the seven and a half million bales 



The Farm Leaks. 133 

of cotton are hereafter reduced to four and a half, 
and the capital, time, and labor heretofore devoted 
to the remaining three million bales be employed in 
raising food crops and live stock. In two years, 
when the surplus cotton shall be out of the way, the 
price of the staple would be remunerative. When 
the farmers can live at home, the dawn of a better 
day is at hand. The old plan has depressed the 
South and brought poverty and debts. 



CHAPTER IX. 

OUR BROAD ACRES. 

OOW large is our landed estate ! The States and 
Territories, including Alaska, cover an area of 
3,605,000 square miles, or 2,307,200,000 acres. In 
the ten States which have been used as a basis of 
comparison are 697,383 square miles, or 446,324,320 
acres. If Virginia, West Virginia, Delaware, Ken- 
tucky, Maryland, and Missouri be added, there will 
be an increase of 191,305 square miles, or 122,435,200 
acres, making a total of 568,759,520 acres in these 
sixteen Southern States. 

Even the ten States cover an area more than 
three times as large as the German Empire, even 
larger in area, by over 20,000 square miles, than 
France, England and Wales, Scotland, Ireland, 
Italy, Spain, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Den- 
mark, all combined. But these ten European coun- 
tries contain a population of 1 30,039,000, and support 
them on less territory than is contained in the ten 
States. Their population is more than twice as 
large as that contained in the United States in 1890, 
whereas the population of the ten Southern States 
was a little over 14,000,000 at this date. 



Our Broad Acres. 



135 



LAND SURFACE IN TEN STATES. 



STATES. 


LAND SURFACE IN 
SQUARE MILES. 


LAND SURFACE IN 
ACRES. 


ACREAGE OF FOR- 
EST LANDS IN iSgO. 


Alabama 


51,540 
53,045 
59,268 
58,980 
45,420 
46,340 
48,580 
30,170 
41,750 
262,290 


32,985,600 
33,948,800 
37,931,520 
37,747,200 
29,068,800 
29,657,600 
31,091,200 
19,308,800 
26,720,000 
167,865,600 


17,000,000 
28,000,000 
20,000,000 

1 8 000 000 


Arkansas 

Florida 


Georgia 


Louisiana 

Mississippi 

North Carolina. . . 

South Carolina 

Tennessee 

Texas 


13,000,000 
i3,oco,ooo 
18,000,000 
13,000,000 
16,000,000 
40,000,000 




Total 


697,383 


446,324,320 


196,000,000 



The total number of acres in all the States and 
Territories is 1,856,108,800. About one-fourth of 
the entire area is occupied by these ten States. 
Forty-three per cent, of this Southern area consists 
in forest lands. The foregoing total number of 
acres does not include Alaska. It alone covers an 
area of 580,000 square miles. It should be stated 
here, that there are slight discrepancies between the 
figures given in the Tenth Census report and vari- 
ous geographical works. The figures are approxi- 
mately correct, and will answer the purpose here in 
view. 

These figures will interest the thoughtful reader, 
especially in their bearing on the question of own- 
ership. 

The American Landed Estate. 

Including Alaska, it is a splendid domain. This 
vast territory is the property of the Federal Union. 



136 The Ills of the South, 

No single country in South America is equal to its 
area. Brazil has less territory by nearly 400,000 
square miles. European Russia has less land by 
more than 1,500,000 square miles. The Chinese 
Empire has about 575,000 more square miles than 
the United States; but the empire has 341,000,000 
more people than the United States. The Ameri- 
can heritage is not only of colossal dimensions, but 
is diversified by every variety of soil and climate 
and production. 

Unavailable Land. 

This comprises 1,002,997,177 acres. It embraces 
369,529,600 acres in Alaska; military and Indian 
reservations cover 157,000,000 acres; mountains, 
lakes, and rivers embrace 476,467,577 acres. 

Available Land. 

When these deductions are made, there remain 
for all uses, present and prospective, 1,304,202,823 
acres. 

Farm Land. 

The land thus used comprises 687,906,375 acres. 
It is a little over half of all the serviceable land in 
the Union, north and south, east and west. 

Ownership. 

This important question of land ownership con- 
cerns all the American people. It is a matter of 
vast significance to know the drift of this inherit- 
ance, and what its effect will be in the near future 



Our Broad Acres, 137 

upon every acre in value. The honor and the inde- 
pendence of being a freeholder may be an impossi- 
bility, fifty years hence, to millions of our people. 
The land movement during the last thirty years 
rings out alarm bells that should be heard by all the 
people. The situation, as nearly as it can be ascer- 
tained, may thus be indicated : 

ACRES. 

I. Farmers own 687,906,375 

II. Railroads own 209,344,233 

in. Foreigners own 6r,goo,ooo 

IV. American speculators own 20,500,000 

V. Doomed by mortgages, estimated 20,000,000 

Undisposed-of Land. 

When the sum of these five classes is taken from 
the available land, there remain of the American 
estate 304,562,215 acres — not quite five acres to 
every man, woman and child living. 

The wealthy men of Europe who own the vast 
territory as given in Class III., also have absolute 
control through mortgages of 90,000,000 acres of the 
railroad land given in Class II. 

RAILROAD OWNERSHIP IN LAND.* 

ACRES. 

Northern Pacific 47,000,000 

Atlantic and Pacific. 42,000,000 

Southern Pacific 35,200,000 

Texas Pacific 18,000,000 

Union Pacific 12,000,000 

Kansas Pacific 6,000,000 

Central Pacific 1 1,000,000 

St. Paul and Pacific 4,723.038 

* Hist. Wheel and Alliance, p. 672. 



138 The Ills of the South. 

ACRES. 

Oregon and California 3,500,000 

New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Vicksburg 3,800,000 

Cairo and Fulton 3,000,667 

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe 3,000,000 

Illinois Central and Mobile and Chicago 2,596,053 

Missouri River, Fort Scott and Gulf 2,350,000 

Burlington and Missouri River 2,441,600 

Denver Pacific 1,000,000 

Oregon Central 1,200,000 

Wisconsin Central 1,800,000 

Pensacola and Georgia 1,568,229 

Mobile and Ohio River 1,004,640 

St. Paul and Sioux City 1,100,000 

Iowa Falls and Sioux City 1,226, 163 

St. Joe and Denver City i, 700,000 

Missouri, Kansas and Texas 1,520,000 

Pacific and Southwestern 1,161,235 

Jackson, Lansing and Saginaw. . 1,052,169 

Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific 1,261, 181 

Cedar Rapids and Missouri 1,298,739 

ALIEN OWNERSHIP IN AMERICAN LAND.* 

ACRES. 

English Syndicate in Texas. 3,000,000 

Holland Company in New Mexico 4,500,000 

Sir Edward Reid in Florida 2,000,000 

English Syndicate in Mississippi 1,800,000 

Marquis of Tweedsdale 1,750,000 

Phillips, Marshall & Co 1,300,000 

German Syndicate 1,000,000 

Byron H. Evans 700,000 

Anglo-American Syndicate 750,000 

Duke of Sutherland 425,000 

British Land Company in Kansas 320,000 

Wm. Whaley, M.P 310,000 

Missouri Land Company of Scotland 465,000 

Robert Penant of London 260,000 

* Hist. Wheel and Alliance, pp. 673-677. 



Our Broad Acres. 139 



ACRES. 

Dundee Land Company of Scotland 247,000 

Lord Dunmore 120,000 

Benjamin Neugas 100,000 

Lord Houghton 60,000 

Lord Dunraven 60,000 

English Land Company 110,000 

Albert Peele, M.P 10,000 

Sir J. L. Kay 5,000 

Alex. Grant 35, 000 

English Syndicate in Missouri 1 10,000 

M. EUerhausen 600,000 

Scotch Syndicate in Florida 500,000 

A. Boysen of Denmark 50,000 



Total 



20,557,500 



OWNERSHIP IN LAND BY AMERICANS, SYNDICATES, 
OR SPECULATORS.* 

ACRES. 

Col. Murphy. 4,000,000 

The Standard Oil Company 1,000,000 

Ex-Senator Dorsey in New Mexico 500, 000 

Diston of Pennsylvania, in Florida 2,000,000 

The Vanderbilts f . . . . 20,000,000 

Total 27,500,000 

LOCALITY OF LAND BY ALIENS. ^: 

ACRES. 

In eleven Northern and Northwestern States 5,050,000 

In thirteen Southern and Southwestern States ... 20,350,000 

In eleven Pacific States 39, 500,000 

Land Restored to the Public Domain. 

From March 4, 1885, to June 30, 1888, the lands 
restored to the public domain for the benefit of the 

* Hist, of Wheel and Alliance. 

f Newspaper. 

X Hand Books of Facts. 



140 The Ills of the South. 

people amount to 83,158,990 acres. These broad 
acres were recovered through forfeitures of rail- 
roads, private land claims, entries under pre-emp- 
tion given up, and invalid State selections. Over 
60,000,000 acres of land are now recommended for 
recovery. 

This was an eminently wise movement. It was 
begun during Mr. Cleveland's first administration, 
and while Mr. L. Q. C. Lamar was Secretary of the 
Department of the Interior. 

Comparisons. 

Comparisons are said to be odious. Why this 
should be so we are not informed. We do know 
that profligate sophistry is odious in essence and in 
practice. To contrast the abstract with the con- 
crete is a method not to be despised in conveying 
information to the great body of the American 
people. 

On September 20, 1850, Congress commenced 
passing Land Grant Bills to aid in the construc- 
tion of railroads in different States."^ The first bill 
granted to the State of Illinois, for the benefit and 
use of the Illinois Central Railroad Company, 2,505,- 
053 acres of land through the richest portion of the 
State. The company has realized about $30,000,000 
from the sale of these lands. In the six years fol- 
lowing 1850 some forty-seven Land Grant Bills were 
passed by Congress in furtherance of railroad build- 
ing. But since the war colossal grants have been 

* Hist, of Wheel and Alliance, pp. 671, 672. 



Our Broad Ac7'es. 



141 



made for the same purpose. The total number of 
acres thus granted for the building of railroads 
amounts to 209,344,233» oi" 3i 1.475 square miles. 
This vast territory was granted to 1,482 companies, 
which up to June 30, 1880, had completed 87,891 
miles of railroad ; 19,722 miles extension were pro- 
jected, and 21,307 miles of new roads were projected. 

COMPANIES AND MILES OF RAILROAD.* 



[,146 

336 



1,482 



87,891 
19^722 
21,307 



128,920 



CONDITION. 



Completed. 
Extension projected. 
New roads projected. 



Complete and projected. 



To encourage these 1,482 companies to build 128,- 
920 miles of railroad, the great-hearted and far- 
seeing Congress granted them a dominion greater 
than the German Empire, for this empire only 
covers an area of 211,000 square miles, and the 
railroad grants equal 311,475 square miles. These 
railroad grants cover an area of more land than is 
contained in the German Empire, England, and 
Wales and Scotland. In this land of vast mountain 
ranges and mighty rivers — this ocean-girdled repub- 
lican empire — nothing is done on a niggardly scale, 
even if the Anglo-Saxon people are beggared by 
fabulous grants. 

Maine, Vermont, Illinois, Tennessee, Indiana, 
Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, South Caro- 



* Compendium Tenth Census, Part II., p. 1257. 



142 The Ills of the South. 

lina, Maryland, Louisiana, and Mississippi do not 
contain as many acres as those embraced in the 
railroad land grants, by 155 acres. 

These land grants to 1,482 railroad companies are 
greater in area than all the land owned by 16,051,000 
people in twelve independent States of the Federal 
Union. 

Nor is this all. The situation portends nothing 
that is cheerful. Ninety million acres, or 140,625 
square miles, of this railroad land are mortgaged to 
foreign capitalists who, in the elegant language of 
commerce, will hold "■ the corner " on this vast 
property and fix the prices handsomely to the 
native and industrious bread-producers in the years 
to come. In case of war, these hardy sons of the 
soil will even defend these broad acres, whose 
owners reside in gilded palaces beyond the blue 
Atlantic. 

Titanic land-holdings require corresponding com- 
parisons to express them. The land owned by an 
English syndicate in Texas equals 3,000,000 acres. 
It is an area of 4,687 square miles. Were this 
land in the form of a square, the distance would be 
covered by 272 miles. If a man rode twenty-seven 
miles a day, it would take ten days to ride around 
it and get back to the starting point. A dozen 
Englishmen own this splendid estate. 

This syndicate owns more land in Texas than is 
contained in the following twelve counties selected 
at random: Bastrop, Baylor, Bee, Bell, Bexar, Austin, 
Burleson, Dallas, Galveston, Hardin, Houston, and 
Harrison. 



Our Broad Acres, 143 



In Florida, one Englishman owns 2,000,000 acres, 
and a Scotch syndicate owns 500,000 acres. 

An English syndicate is in possession of 1,800,000 
acres in the State of Mississippi. This means a 
strip of territory covering 2,812 square miles. A 
Mississippian, with a good horse, riding twenty-five 
miles a day, can ride around it in eight days. All 
the land improved and unimproved, in the counties 
of Adams, Alcorn, Amite, Attala, Benton, Hinds, and 
Marion is not quite equal to the body of land to 
which this syndicate holds the title. 

This ownership of large bodies of land by wealthy 
foreigners is certainly a disquieting factor to the 
American bread-winners of the soil. Is landlordism 
to be the fate of this nation ? Are the Anglo-Saxon 
people destined to become "the hewers of wood 
and the drawers of water" ? Does African freedom 
mean the enslavement of the white people ? Are 
the American people to be cheated out of their 
land, and denied the birthright privilege of becom- 
ing freeholders, paying for land at honest prices? 
Shall these colossal speculations go on until the 
great body of our people are at the absolute mercy 
of whatever price rapacity can demand ? Alarm 
bells should ring out their earnest protest in every 
State of the Federal Union, against any further 
encroachment upon the public domain by either 
foreign or American speculators. Legislative as- 
semblies in all the States, and the Congress of the 
United States, should be charged to protect the 
people from these greedy and pitiless vampires. 
The land movement in the South presents another 



144 



The Ills of the South. 



phase. It is a twofold movement. The one is the 
American idea: toward many small farms, where 
each man is his own freeholder, independent, uncon- 
scious of grinding dependence — a freeholder, the 
" patent and passport of self-respect with the Anglo- 
Saxon race ever since Hengist and Horsa landed on 
the shores of England." The other is the European 
idea : it means landlordism, vast estates, a multi- 
tudinous tenantry, beggary, serfdom. Can this con 
dition be imposed on the Anglo-Saxon race in the 
nineteenth century? 

The following tables furnish a study. 

TABLE I. 

Number and Size of Farms in i860. 





UNDER 3 
ACRES. 


3 AND 


10 AND 


20 AND 


50 AND 


lOO AND 


500 AND 


1,000 


STATES. 


UNDER 


UNDER 


UNDER 


UNDER 


UNDER 


UNDER 


AND 




10. 


20. 


50. 


100. 


500. 


1,000. 


OVER. 


Alabama .. 




1,409 


4,379 


16,049 


12,060 


13,455 


2,016 


696 


Arkansas . . 






1,823 


6,075 


131728 


6,957 


4,231 


307 


69 


Florida .... 







430 


945 


2,139 


1,162 


1,432 


211 


77 


Georgia . . . 






906 


2,803 


13,644 


14,129 


18,821 


2,692 


902 


Louisiana. . 







626 


2,222 


4,882 


3,064 


4,955 


1,161 


371 


Mississippi. 






563 


2,516 


10,967 


9,204 


11,408 


1,868 


481 


N. Carolina 







2,050 


4.879 


20,882 


18,496 


19,220 


1,184 


311 


S. Carolina 






352 


1,219 


6,69s 


6,980 


11,369 


1,359 


482 


Tennessee . 







1,687 


7>245 


22,998 


22,829 


21,903 


921 


isa 


Texas 






1,832 


6,156 


14.132 


7,857 


6,831 


468 


87 


Total . . 




11,678 


40)439 


126,116 


102,738 


117,625 


12,187 


3,634 



y 



Our Broad A 



crcs. 



H5 



TABLE II. 
Number and Size of Farms in 1880. 




TABLE III. 

18S0. 
Number and Size of Farms Cultivated by Owners. 





UNDER 3 
ACRES. 


3 AND 


10 AND 


20 AND 


50 AND 


roo AND 


500 AND 


1,000 


STATES. 


UNDER 


UNDER 


UNDER 


UNDER 


UNDER 


UNDER 


AND 




10. 


20. 


50. 


100. 


500. 


1,000. 


OVER. 


Alabama... 


92 


956 


1,652 


8,501 


16,282 


38,814 


4,^94 


1,724 


Arkansas . . 


33 


5B5 


1,417 


8,981 


18,135 


33,962 


1,561 


571 


Florida .... 


53 


815 


1,238 


3.532 


3,461 


6,132 


607 


360 


Georgia . . . 


35 


906 


1,353 


6,605 


14,401 


43.505 


6,392 


3,254 


Louisiana.. 




811 


1,942 


5,425 


6.780 


13-243 


1,884 


1,142 


Mississippi. 


36 


732 


1,499 


5,708 


13,032 


30,931 


3,564 


1,712 


N. Carolina 


123 


2,141 


3,851 


13,973 


25,929 


52.810 


4,447 


i,6c8 


S. Carolina 


34 


1,168 


2,609 


5,914 


8.750 


23,358 


3.276 


i,S36 


Tennessee . 


102 


2,447 


3^996 


15,028 


29,257 


53,515 


3,121 


988 


Texas 


21 


1,463 
12,024 


3,015 


10,312 


21,374 


63,440 


5,508 


3,583 


Total . . 


593 


22,572 


83,979 


157,401 


359,710 


34,554 


16,478 



146 



The Ills of the South. 



TABLE IV. 

tS8o. 

Number and Size of Farms Rented for Fixed Money 
Rental. 



STATES. 


UNDER 3 
ACRES. 


3 AND 
UNDER 


10 AND 
UNDER 


20 AND 
UNDER 


50 AND 
UNDER 


100 AND 

UNDER 


500 AND 

UNDER 


1,000 

AND 




ID. 


20. 


50. 


100. 


500. 


1,000. 


OVER. 


Alabama. .. 


51 


1,058 


3.251 


11,858 


3,995 


2,343 


248 


84 


Arkansas . . 


8 


414 


2,563 


3,464 


1,417 


1,848 


145 


57 


Florida . . . 


6 


262 


582 


1,980 


452 


236 


24 


6 


Georgia — 


27 


978 


1,631 


8,205 


3,616 


3,680 


280 


140 


Louisiana.. 


26 


464 


1,831 


2,524 


634 


887 


179 


124 


Mississippi. 


23 


605 


3,341 


7,931 


2,859 


2,381 


217 


83 


N. Carolina 


23 


921 


1,553 


3,023 


^,305 


1,639 


M5 


35 


S. Carolina. 


46 


4.418 


5,096 


8,443 


1,866 


1,811 


225 


69 


Tennessee . 


44 


934 


3,732 


6,369 


4,019 


3,846 


217 


55 


Texas 


5 


547 


2,222 
25,802 


5,678 


1,503 


1,^77 


168 


89 


Total . . 


259 


10,651 


59,475 


21,666 


20,548 


1,848 


742 



TABLE V. 

Number and Size of Farms Rented for Shares of Product, 

1880. 



STATES. 


UNDER 

3 
ACRES. 


3 AND 

UNDER 

10. 


10 AND 

UNDER 

20. 


20 AND 

UNDER 

50. 


50 AND 

UNDER 

100. 


100 AND 

UNDER 

500. 


500 AND 
UNDER 
1,000. 


1,000 
AND 
OVER. 


Alabama. . . 
Arkansas. . . 

Florida 

Georgia . . 
Louisiana .. 
Mississippi . 
N. Carolina. 
S. Carolina. 
Tennessee.. 
Te.xas 


134 
56 
10 

39 
15 

38 


1,583 

1,071 

224 

1,226 

573 
999 
4,211 
3:, 449 
2,390 
1,544 


8,152 

6,800 

636 

5,710 

2,935 
7,096 
7,910 
4,814 
9,607 
11,543 


21,362 
.6,837 

2,128 
21.714 

4,677 

13,^97 
17,152 
13,160 
13,386 
27,685 


6,170 

8,037 
1,087 
3,427 
6,773 

6,265 
6,662 


2,166 
194 

6,450 
901 

2,181 

7,357 

2,566 

5,954 
5,504 


203 

87 
21 

^i 

155 
471 
192 
211 
312 


60 
20 
TI 

97 

i 

30 
43 
121 


Total... 


525 


15,270 


65,203 


141,298 


44,120 


36,370 


2,093 


55T 



Our Broad Acres, 



147 



TABLE VI. 

Number and Size of Farms by Totals in Each Class. 



SIZE OF FARMS. 


CLASS AS 
TO SIZE. 


OWNERS. 


RENTERS. 


SHARE 
WORKERS. 


TOTALS. 


Under 3 acres 


I. 

II. 

III. 

IV, 

V. 

VI. 

VII. 

VIII. 


593 
12,024 
22,572 
83,979 
157.401 
359,710 
34,554 
16,478 


259 
10,651 
25,802 

59,475 

21,666 

20,548 

1,848 

742 


525 

15,270 

65,203 

141,298 

44,120 

36,370 

2,093 

551 








10 and under 20 


37,945 


20 and under 50 


284,752 

223,187 

416,628 

38,495 

17,771 


50 and under 100 

100 and under 500 

500 and under 1,000 

1,000 and over 


Total 




687,311 


140,971 


305,430 






1,133,712 



TABLE VIL 
The Tenure of Farms in the Ten States, \\ 



STATES. 


NUMBER OF FARMS 

CULTIVATED BY 

OWNERS. 


NUMBER OF FARMS 

RENTED FOR FIXED 

MONEY RENTAL. 


NUMBER OF FARMS 

RENTED FOR SHARE 

OF PRODUCT. 


Alabama 

Arkansas 

Florida 

Georgia 

I-ouisiana 

Mississippi 

N. Carolina .... 

S. Carolina 

Tennessee 

Texas 


72,215 

65,245 
16,198 

76,451 
31,286 

57,214 

104,887 
46,645 

ioS,454 
108,716 


22,888 
9,916 
3,548 

18,557 
6,669 

17,440 
8,644 
21,974 
19,266 
12,089 


40,761 

19.272 

3,692 

43,618 

10,337 
27,118 
44,078 
25,245 
37,930 

53,379 


Total 


687,311 


140,791 


305,430 



148 



The Ills of the South. 



TABLE VIII. 

Difference in the Number of Farms betv/een i860 and 1880 in 
THE Ten States. 



SIZE BY ACRES. 


i860. 


1880. 


INCREASE IN 20 
YEARS. 


Under 3 

3 to 10 


None 
11,678 

40,439 
126,116 
102,738 
117,625 

12,187 
3,634 


1,377 

37,945 

"3,577 

284,752 

223,187 

416,628 

40,495 

17,771 


1,377 

26,267 

73,138 

158,636 

120,449 

299,003 

28,308 

14,137 


10 to 20 

20 to 50 

50 to 100 

100 to 500 

500 to 1,000 

1,000 and over. . 



It is now proposed to arrange these eight classes 
of farmers into three great groups according to the 
quantity of land cultivated. Those cultivating less 
than 3 acres; 3 and less than 10; and 10 and less 
than 20; will constitute Group I. They are the 
single farmers whether proprietary, renters or share 
workers, employing no hired help. Group II. will 
embrace all those cultivating 20 acres of land and 
less than 500 acres. They are the middle class of 
farmers. The last class will be Group III., consist- 
ing of plantations cultivating from 500 acres up- 
ward. These three groups will be presented for 
i860 and 1880. They are indexes to the economic 
movement in the South, as well as the strong tend- 
ency to multiply large plantations. 



Our Broad Acres. 



149 



TABLE IX. 

Number and Size of Farms in Three Groups. 





SIZE IN ACRES. 


i860. 


1880. 


GAIN 
PER CENT. 


Group I 

Group II 


3 and less than 20. 
20 and less than 500. 
500, 1,000 and more. 


52,117 

346,479 

15,821 


152,899 

924,567 

58,266 


1.93 

1.66 


Group III 


2.68 







No thoughtful man can study the land move- 
ment toward large plantations without fear for the 
future. When the uncertainty of labor is consid- 
ered, and that cotton is the main crop of the South, 
as soon as the owners find that these plantations do 
not remunerate them, many plantations will fall 
into the hands of wealthy syndicates. The English 
West Indian history will repeat itself in the South. 
If 800 acres is the average size of these plantations 
of Group III. in the ten States, they embrace all 
combined 46,61 2, 8cx) acres. It is less than the land 
owned by aliens in the United States. 

We take it for granted that in i860 there were 
very few farmers in the South who cultivated land 
as renters, and land cultivated on the share system 
was unknown. If there were any in either class, 
the per cent, was so small that it attracted no 
attention. Following the plan of Table IX., we 
will group all places according to ownership. 



I50 



The Ills of the South. 



TABLE X. 

Number and Size of Farms as to Ownership. 



Group I . , 
Group II. 
Group III 



SIZE IN ACRES. 



3 and less than 20. 
20 and less than 500. 
500, 1,000 and more. 



52,117 

346,479 

15,821 



35,189 
601,090 
5^,032 



LOSS AND 

GAIN 
PER CENT. 



Loss . 32 
Gain . 79 
Gain 2.22 



Comparing Tables IX. and X., we find that accord- 
ing to Group I., in 1880, 117,710 farms were culti- 
vated by renters or sharevvorkers. In Group II. 
there were 323,477 farms cultivated by renters or 
shareworkers, and in Group III. 7,234 large planta- 
tions were thus cultivated. These renters and 
shareworkers were chiefly negroes. Nearly a half 
million of farms were in the sole charge of the 
negroes. This fact will explain in part the decrease 
in the grain crop of the South, referred to in a 
former chapter. 

The ownership of these farms reveals a far more 
important consideration in its bearing on the land 
question in the future. By the overwhelming testi- 
mony from ten States and the South generally, 
farmers have made no money at farming. Mort- 
gages and debts form the burden of their com- 
plaint. 

In Group I., while there has been a decrease in 
ownership of 32 per cent, since i860, our inference 



Our Broad Acres. 151 

is, that between two-thirds and three-fourths of the 
land cultivated by ii7,/^io renters and shareworkers 
belongs to white farmers. 

But in Group 11. there has been an increase of 
ownership in twenty years of 79 per cent., in Group 
III, an increase of ownership of 222 per cent. Who 
owns this land? — the speculator in part, the town 
and country merchant in part, the commission 
merchant in part, and the farmer in part. 

To say that the ownership is all vested in farmers 
can not be reconciled with the uncontradicted and 
well-known report of " blue ruin " coming from 
the great farming community in every State of the 
South. 

Making allowances for the breaking up of old 
farms since i860 in Group II., parceling their farms 
out to children, in other cases selling portions of 
old farms, our opinion is, that of the increase in 
ownership of farms in twenty years, 50 per cent, in 
Group II. and 75 per cent, in Group III. are vested 
in other persons than farmers. 

A large portion of this land is destined in the 
near future to be the property of some syndicate 
unless some remedy by law can be found to prevent 
it. The movement to monopoly of land is sure and 
steady. 

We can not impress with sufficient emphasis the 
danger that threatens our people in the strong 
movement toward land monopoly. Land now sold 
for two dollars an acre will, long before the year 
1925 is reached, cost our children twenty-five dollars 
an acre, if that land is held by a syndicate. 



152 The Ills of the South, 

" The condition of the English and Irish peasantry to-day truth- 
fully mirrors the near future of the American farmer, if land consoli- 
dation and landlordism is not checked." * 

" For various reasons the farms of the South have not been 
mortgaged to the extent of those in the more fertile regions of the 
North and West. But Shylock has already turned his greedy eyes 
upon this beautiful Southland, and is now establishing his loan 
agencies. We can not too strongly urge upon the Southern farmer to 
beware of the net that is being spread for him. Shun it as you 
would a deadly plague, if you would save your homes from his 
relentless grasp." f 

"The syndicates that loan money at from one to three per cent, 
are mainly made up of Scotch, English, and New England capital- 
ists, who have their agents throughout the South and West. These 
mortgages are falling due, and soon an immense number of Southern 
and Western farms will be in the hands of foreign mortgagees." % 

The credit system and the high prices under that 
system are stealthily conveying a large percentage 
of Southern farms into the possession of some syn- 
dicate. For private and generous reasons, merchants 
who have come into possession of land ranging from 
10,000 acres to 500,000 acres, will sell this land to 
resident farmers and planters. This is patriotic. 
But money is scarce in the South, and particularly 
so among farmers. When the merchant is pressed 
for money, patriotism will lose its aroma, and the 
land will go into the market ; the highest cash 
bidder will get It. If this cash bidder is a company 
of capitalists, it will be held until a '' corner " can 
be produced, or it will be cultivated by tenants. 
" Colonel Church, of New York, owns and collects 

* Wheel and Alliance. 

t Ibid. 

X American Farms, p. 50. 



Our Broad Acres, 153 

rents from 180 farms in that State; some of them 
contain more than 500 acres each." "^ How many- 
Colonel Churches are there already in the South ? 
Silently and almost imperceptibly, here and there 
a farm is slipping out of the possession of some 
small owner. 

An editorial in the St. Louis Republican is quoted 
in "The Tramp at Home," by Mr. Lee Meriwether, 
p. 160 : 

" There is not a single one of the twenty-nine agricultural States 
that is not, to a greater or less extent, under mortgage to the money- 
lending creditor States. . . . It is stated that the insurance 
companies of Hartford, Connecticut, hold $70,000,000 in Western 
farm mortgages ; that the loan companies hold 1,000 mortgages, 
representing $76,000,000 ; and in the little State of New Hampshire, 
Western farm mortgages to the amount of $35,000,000 are held. 
. . . These agricultural States pay annually to the money-lenders 
$180,000,000 in interest alone. 

" According to the Michigan Labor Commissioner, February, 1888, 
the mortgages on farms in the single State of Michigan amount to 
$64,000,000, paying an annual interest of $5,000,000." f 

Could accurate data be obtained, what would not 
the South reveal in regard to farm mortgages ? In 
a former chapter the testimony has been given from 
ten States. These mortgages are fatal to the future 
native ownership of the soil. 

Let us turn our attention to the Old World — to 
England, standing high in the scale of Christian civ- 
ilization. This is a land of churches and schools, of 
renowned seats of learning, of famous statesmen, 
orators, historians, poets, and preachers. Great as 

* Wheel and Alliance, p. 674. 
f The Tramp at Home, p. 161. 



154 ^-^^ ^^^^ ^f ^^^^ Sotctk. 

England is, what about the barriers to the progress 
of her millions? 

Has England any pity for her oppressed farm 
tenantry? To become a landowner is to millions of 
her people an impossibility. The door to land 
ownership by the poor is closed by wealth. The 
cruel dilemma presented to every poor man is: 
*' Work on our terms, or starve." Yet wealthy 
Englishmen wish more land. 

The condition of the dependent English farm 
tenantry has a lesson for the American farmer — a 
lesson for all the Southern people engaged in agri- 
culture. To learn that lesson, at whatever cost of 
self-denial and rigid economy, is an act eminently 
wise. 

Senator D. W. Voorhees, in the North American 
Review o{ November, 1 891, thus states the condition 
of England's farm tenantry: ** According to reliable 
official statements the population of the United 
Kingdom, embracing England, Wales, Scotland, 
and Ireland, may be put down at 28,000,000, 
and her land at 72,119,962 acres. Of these lands, 
51,885,148 acres, more than two-thirds of the 
whole landed property of the kingdom, are owned 
by less than 11,000 persons. These vast land- 
owners draw a rental from an oppressed tenantry 
of over $562,000,000 per annum, and as the 
amount of money circulating in the kingdom is 
contracted, and its volume diminished, so is the 
purchasing and governing power of these enormous 
millions increased, and the privileged few aggran- 
dized by grinding the faces of the poor. The for- 



Our Broad Acres, 155 

eign policy of England is often denounced for its 
brutal rapacity, but her home policy, whereby an 
idle, sensual, income-devouring aristocracy enjoys 
full and free license to prey upon her toiling masses, 
wears a darker hue than even the perfidious and 
crimson stains she has left on distant shores, and 
with which she has incarnadined the seas." 

This means an average of 4,717 acres to each one 
of the 11,000 persons, and not quite three-fourths of 
an acre to each of the 27,989,000 poor people. If 
civilization is the condition of a people's progress in 
physical comforts and conveniences, in intellectual 
enlightenment and expansion, and in those virtues 
that lie at the foundation of individual happiness, 
social order and well being, then England's civiliza- 
tion is not for the masses. Eleven thousand English- 
men have the power to prevent twenty-eight million 
other English people from ever becoming freehold- 
ers ; and to be a freeholder, Mr. Blaine said in his 
eulogy on President Garfield, "had been the patent 
and passport of self-respect with the Anglo-Saxon 
race ever since Hengist and Horsa landed on the 
shores of England." That self-respect is denied to 
this people by inexorable conditions. The mon- 
eyed power has encrusted her civilization with a 
deadly blight. 

Notwithstanding these remorseless conditions — 
those cruel laws that confront the poor man in his 
efforts to improve his surroundings — the scale upon 
which England pays by law the clergy of her State 
church bears no proportion to the poverty, oppres- 
sion, and burden of her millions. 



156 The Ills of the South. 

Per annum. 

The Archbishop of Canterbury's salary is $76,000 

Bishop of London 50,000 

Archbishop of York 56,000 

Bishop of Durham 40,000 

Bishop of Winchester 35, 000 

Bishop of Ely 27,000 

Six Bishops, each $25,000 150,000 

Eight Bishops, each $22,500 180,000 

Eight Bishops, each $21,000 168,000 

Twenty-nine Deans, each $7,400 217,500 

One hundred and twenty Canons, each $5,000 600,000 

177 Clergymen are paid annually $1,599,500 

In the United States this large sum would sup- 
port several thousand ministers who claim no higher 
title than the sublime purpose to serve their divine 
Lord and the high interests of humanity. It is a 
melancholy portrait to contemplate in these closing 
years of the nineteenth century; a wealth-enthroned 
clergy representing Him who was lowly of heart, 
and millions of worshipers ground down into the 
dust. This is the boasted civilization of the agfe. 
This is grim progress. This is Christianity emascu- 
lated, its efficacy and healing power lost in gorgeous 
ceremonials, fit only to captivate and enthrall for 
an hour the sensuous intellect. The poor, the 
lowly, the despised, the disconsolate, are forgotten 
and neglected, and everywhere encircled by crush- 
ing laws. Wealth is everywhere intrenched in 
strong and protecting statutes, not merely as wealth 
should be protected, but to the detriment and 
serious disadvantage of the poor. 

It is stated that less than 200,000 men in England 



Our Broad Acres, 157 

have an annual income of $700,000,000, and eight 
persons in the United Kingdom own more than 
220,000 acres of land. 

ENGLAND'S LANDLORDS. 

Duke of Sutherland 1,358,425 acres. 

Duke of Kuccleugh 459, 260 ' ' 

Sir James Matheson 406,070 " 

Earl of Breadalbaugh 372.609 " 

Earl of Seafield 305, 891 ' ' 

Duke of Richmond 286,407 *' 

Earl of Fife 257,629 " 

Alexander Matheson 220,433 " 

Duke of Athol 194,640 " 

Duke of Devonshire 193, 121 " 

Duke of Northumberland 185,515 " 

Duke of Argyle 175,114 " 

If we take 50,000 acres as the average number 
of acres cultivated in many a county of the South- 
ern States, then these twelve rich Englishmen own 
as much land as is cultivated in eighty such coun- 
ties. In England, the land question is settled. It is 
owned by the moneyed power, and that power will 
hold it. 

** Though England is deafened with spinning 
wheels, her people have no clothes ; though she is 
black with digging coal, her people have not fuel, and 
people die of cold ; and though she sold her soul for 
gain, they die of hunger." *Such is the condition 
of England, reputed one of the wealthiest nations 
of the earth. Wealthy she is, but wealthy in the 
midst of overwhelming and appalling poverty and 
distress. 

* Ruskin. 



158 The Ills of the South, 

The causes that have brought about this condition 
in England are not unlike the causes that operate 
now in these United States, and that are at work in 
these Southern States to bring about similar disas- 
trous results. One phase of these results is the land 
question. If the agencies now in existence go on 
unchecked, men now living may see the day when 
land ownership will be out of the reach of the poor 
man. These agencies are: 

1. Titanic land grants to build railroads ; 

2. Land bought by foreign syndicates ; 

3. Land bought by American syndicates ; 

4. Land that will fall into the hands of syndicates through loan 

associations ; 

5. Land that will ultimately fall into the hands of syndicates 

through the credit system and its accompaniment, deeds of 
trust. 

The Peril Threatening the American Estate. 

That the danger of land being, wrested from the 
people of these United States, North and South, East 
and West, is real, is supported by unequivocal testi- 
mony. The methods to accomplish this land spolia- 
tion are often insidious and unscrupulous, and no 
less bold and arrogant. Bribes and perjury have 
been invoked when necessary to the fell achieve- 
ment. 

" There are no morals in politics and govern- 
mental affairs," said a State official to a farmer, 
whose sound, rugged common sense remonstrated 
against certain vicious proceedings. That a false- 
hood, charged with the very essence of the doctrine 
of Machiavelli, should be formulated into words, 



Our Broad Acres, 159 

and should be given publicity, is sufficiently start- 
ling. Such profligate sophisms are used as the 
clumsy weapons to silence common sense. Bribery 
and arson, perjury and felony, according to this 
hideous falsehood, wear no moral complexion. But 
why argue against so monstrous a perversion of 
the fundamental idea of all government? Yet it 
should surprise no one, when an artist so corrupt 
should bring forth his masterpiece of villany by 
lending his official influence to any scheme however 
nefarious. That there are such men, no one can 
doubt. That the influence and the official station 
of such men are a menace to the interests of the 
people, there can be no question. 

The danger of land spoliation is thus portrayed 
by the World : 

" There are many reasons why aliens living in their own countries, 
yet desiring to benefit by the prosperity of this, while not sharing 
the responsibility of citizenship, are anxious to own land and houses, 
and reap the benefit of our countrymen's toils and industry. Chief 
among those reasons is the desire for a permanent and safe invest- 
ment, especially for the future. There is no longer either honor or 
profit in being a landlord in Ireland, and those who could sell their 
properties have done so. The Land Restoration Leagues of Eng- 
land and Scotland have reached such proportions that the future hold- 
ing of real estate is of doubtful value ; while the Social Democrats, 
who seek the establishment of a social republic, are enlisting the 
workingmen and poor of both countries, and a general uprising is 
only a question of time. . . . There is nothing under the sun 
so sensitive as capital. Those who hold it foresee coming disaster 
afar off, and desert the sinking ship before others have an idea of 
the proximity of danger. Thus the capitalists of the Old World 
have sought new and sure fields in which to invest, and the United 
States furnish all the requirements desired by the most careful 
money-lenders of the world. . . . Their willingness to own 



i6o The Ills of the South. 

land, to invest in business enterprises, to possess the patent riglits of 
machinery, to run breweries, to tunnel or bridge rivers, to build 
houses, to work mines, or to operate railroads, is not from any love 
of this country. It is altogether that they may lay every man, 
woman, and child, under tribute — not only the present, but all future 
generations ; that every one here who toils may pile up for them 
riches to be spent in their own countries ; that they may perpetuate 
here the conditions against which their own countrymen are about 
revolting. They would fasten on the people of the United States the 
curse of ' absentee landlordism.' 

" In order to obtain these holdings, the most corrupt practices 
have been resorted to. Congressmen have been bribed, government 
officials silenced, witnesses suborned, and perjury resorted to. Mil- 
lions of acres of the best farming land in the nation have been stolen, 
and hundreds of thousands of acres of magnificent forests have fallen 
into their hands. Let those who believe in America for Americans 
study the figures given, and act accordingly." * 

The Galveston News as reported in the '' Econo- 
mist Scrap Book," Part II., for May, 1891, page 
124, says : '' The fathers of Texas saw further than 
their sons. They forbade the holding of Texas 
lands by aliens. Otherwise, nearly all the lands 
in the country might have passed into the hands 
of foreigners. In less than fifty years, citizens of 
Texas will curse the day that an empire in extent 
of her territory passed into the hands of men living 
abroad, and spending money there drawn from 
Texas renters." 

Similar causes are operating in all the Southern 
States, and in the same direction. 

A few years ago, the attorney-general of Texas 
entered suit against a railroad company to restore 
to the State lands granted that corporation. A 

* Handbook of Facts for January, 1891, p. 65. 



Our Broad Acres. i6i 

delegation from the Panhandle of Texas visited the 
State Capitol, and formally requested the attorney- 
general to withdraw the suit, as the suit was throw- 
ing a cloud upon the titles of lands in that section, 
and injuring the Panhandle and its people. The 
attorney-general declined to comply with the re- 
quest of the delegation. He is reported as saying, 
speaking of the greed of the corporation in grab- 
bing Texas lands, that to-day they controlled one- 
fourth of all the lands in Texas, they would control 
it in perpetuity, and he predicted that in less than 
twenty years, the people of the Panhandle, instead 
of owning and controlling their own homes, would 
be vassals of rich English landlords."^ 

'This is the dreary condition of servitude awaiting 
the Panhandle people of prosperous Texas. But 
Texas is waking up. The alarm is sounded. The 
recent message of her Governor has an earnest ring 
on this all-important land question. 

We quote that part of the message relating to 
land corporations. It has direct practical value to 
all the Southern States. 

Land Corporations. f 

" The constitution declares that ' perpetuities and monopolies are 
contrary to the genius of a free government, and shall never be al- 
lowed, nor shall the law of primogeniture or entailments ever be in 
force in this State.' — Article I., section 26. The laws of this State 
regulating the estates of deceased persons, are amply sufficient to 
give full force and effect to the spirit of the constitution against 
primogeniture and entailments. But there is no law to check or 

*The Economist's Scrap-Book, Part II., for May, 1S91, p. 124. 
f Message by Gov. A. S. Hogg of Texas, Jan., 1893. 
II 



1 62 The Ills of the SotUh. 

limit title to lands owned by corporations nor to prevent monopolies 
of real estate by them. "While land corporations can not, as such, be 
chartered under the laws of this State, yet under the law authorizing 
the Secretary of State to grant permits to foreign corporations to do 
business within the State, they are chartered in other States and for- 
eign countries, and are operating here in the purchase and owner- 
ship of lands. Titles to many million acres are now vested in them, 
the lands withheld from settlement except at exorbitant prices, with- 
out any law regulating or controlling or limiting the corporate rights 
in any respect whatsoever. There is danger in this condition, which 
seems to have aroused the people ; for, in their convention last 
August, they adopted the following platform on that subject : 

* ' ' i6. We demand the enactment of a law that will define perpetu- 
ities and prohibit the operation of land corporations in this State, 
requiring those now holding title or possession of lands for agricul- 
tural, horticultural, grazing and speculating purposes, excepting over- 
flowed and irrigation lands, to dispose of the same within such reason- 
able time as may not impair vested rights.' 

"The purpose of this demand is wise and just. Land corpora- 
tions, having in view the ownership of large bodies of soil, portend 
land monopoly with titles in perpetuity. There is no institution more 
inimical to the genius of a free government ; none that should be 
more strenouusly prohibited. Permit corporations of this class to 
operate much longer in this State, grouping together large bodies of 
agricultural and grazing lands, and the time is not far off when, if the 
people are permitted to buy homes at all, they can only do so at 
prices and on such terms that bondage of themselves and their pos- 
terity must be the result ; for an excessive mortgage debt on a home, 
bearing annual interest high enough to demand the surplus products 
of labor to meet it, means no more nor less than bondage of an 
aggravated form. The condition of other States in this respect can- 
not fail to be a valuable lesson to Texas. 

" A corporation has been defined to be an artificial being, invisi- 
ble, intangible, existing only in contemplation of law, with life 
perpetual. No power can check its franchises nor limit or destroy 
its life, except the government that grants its charter. Operating in 
Texas lands now are Scotch and British corporations and those of 
other States. While the State has no power to destroy them nor to 
revoke their charters, she has the right to tax them and to limit their 
right to acquire property, to prescribe the time and method of its 



Our Broad Acres. 163 

alienation, and to exclude them from the State on conditions and 
terms consistent with vested rights, at will. Many of them are char- 
tered abroad with the provision in the grant that they shall not own 
lands within the grant or government, but may go elsewhere for that 
purpose. If they were good, this condition would not be in them. 
It is not well for a great people, in the exciting race for wealth, to 
overlook this germ now being sowed among them, which, if neg- 
lected long, will spring into an overshadowing growth that can neither 
be checked nor destroyed. There is a land famine in most of the Old 
World and in many sections of the New. In the natural drift of affairs 
it may reach Texas within the next generation. Nothing can so readily 
precipitate it as the land corporation. When known that there are in 
nine of the old States only seven acres per capita ; that in nine of the 
others there are only twenty acres per capita ; that in twelve others, 
comparatively new States, there are only twenty-two acres per capita ; 
that in nine strictly Southern States there are only thirty-five acres per 
capita; and that in the whole United States, including the Territories, 
there are only thirty-seven acres per capita of the whole population, 
and that about one-tenth of these lands are possessed by land corpora- 
tions, there is at least some excuse for a thoughtful people to be agi- 
tated at this time over the land problem. 

" While the whole area of Texas amounts to about seventy- four 
acres per capita of her population, she is confronted with the most 
serious condition of corporate ownership of about one-fourth of 
it all. Statistics show that in the United States from 1S70 to 1S80 
the cultivable lands in stable crops increased sixty-six per cent ; while 
from 18S0 to 1890 the increase thereof was only twenty-six per cent. 
The evident cause of this is the growing scarcity of agricultural lands 
throughout the government. The bread-producing land of the world 
is fast being exhausted, while the bread-consuming people are increas- 
ing. As the ratio of production decreases, the ratio of bread con- 
sumption from year to year steadily increases. The land problem, 
after all, underlies the bread problem. It is the duty of the govern- 
ment to understand this and to act wisely for the good of posterity. 
This can best be done by restrictive laws, making corporate land 
monopoly impossible for the future. While the American people 
have escaped the evil of land monopoly under the laws of primogeni- 
ture of the Old World, they may yet find themselves involved in a 
more serious condition — that of land monopoly from titles in per- 
petuity caused by corporate ownership. 



164 The Ills of the South, 

"To comply with this demand of the people of Texas, therefore, 
who had the right to make it, a law now becomes necessary by your 
honorable bodies, and the following suggestions therein are respect- 
fully made : 

" I. Declare that land corporations are contrary to the genius of a 
free government, and shall hereafter exercise no rights in Texas ex- 
cept such as may be expressly authorized by law. 

" 2. That no such corporations shall hereafter be chartered or be 
permitted to do business in the State after a limited period named. 

" 3. That further acquisition of title or interest in land for spec- 
ulative, agricultural, or grazing purposes shall be prohibited. 

"4. That those now holding title to or interest in lands for agri- 
cultural or grazing purposes, or that may, under the provisions of the 
law authorizing them to purchase real estate in collection of debt, 
hereafter acquire interest in or title to such land, shall within a speci- 
fied time, consistent with vested rights, alienate them to natural 
persons, wind up their corporate affairs, and leave the State on 
prescribed penalties and forfeitures." 



CHAPTER X. 

THE PERVERSIONS IN BUSINESS. 

DUSINESS is an honorable term. It does in- 
^ valuable service in commerce and exchanges. 
Freighted with blessings, it is the servant of the 
rich and the poor. Its purview embodies method, 
exactness, and punctuality. In a moral sense, it 
stands for equitable transactions. 

From these functions, in numerous individual 
instances, it has been deflected. It has often done 
degrading service. Its fair visage is besmirched. 
To discriminate legitimate business from disreputa- 
ble transactions is not always an easy task. Extor- 
tion is business; fraud is business; peculation and 
speculation have appropriated the title ; the taking 
advantage of ignorance and necessity has employed 
the term ; corners in trade, dealing in " futures," 
and gambling in " stocks " have been so styled. 
Confiscation prices are fair in business. The cheat's 
transactions come under the term. According to 
this perverted usage, legitimate and illegimate, 
reputable and disreputable dealings are styled busi- 
ness. Crime is not the violation of law, but busi- 
ness. Oppression is business. Thus it happens, 
that moral distinctions between right and wrong are 
defaced in trade. 



1 66 The Ills of the South, 

The science of exchange occupies a prominent 
place in pohtical economy. The appHances neces- 
sary to effect the end, require vast capital. Steam- 
ship lines and railways have not only destroyed the 
isolation of distant communities, removed the bar- 
riers to progress, but have made the exchange of 
productions possible, and have brought them to the 
doors of the rich and the poor alike. 

The merchants constitute a large class of those 
concerned in exchange. Their position in society 
and the service rendered are quite as important as 
that of the producer. Without them the factory 
would be of no use, and the cotton and grain fields 
might as well be abandoned. They are a highly 
useful and intelligent class in society, honored for 
their integrity and business sagacity. Their service 
is indispensable to progress. 

The tillers of the soil, or the farming class, in 
these United States differ widely from a similar 
class in the Old World. We have no peasantry 
here in the European sense. Caste has taken no 
root on American soil. Of twenty-one Presidents 
of the United States, fifteen came from farms; they 
were either farmers, or the sons of farmers, and four 
of the number spent their young manhood tilling 
the soil on small farms. Thousands of merchants, 
senators and members of Congress, eminent lawyers 
and preachers, and men in the various professions 
and vocations in life had early acquaintance with 
plough handles. Farm life is simple. Industry is 
regular. Temptations to evil are few. The circum- 
stances furnish strong supports to virtue. Morality is 



The Perversio7is in Business. 167 

robust. The unanimous verdict is, the best men and 
women, not by nature, but environments, are found 
in the rural districts — on American farms. They are 
hospitable, unsuspecting, honest, true and faithful 
to their obligations. 

We shall not be suspected of any intention to 
do injustice to either one of the great classes por- 
trayed. As classes their record is unsullied. Bad 
and faithless men are found in all the conditions of 
life. Among the twelve apostles, there was a Judas. 
Among gentlemen, there are those who belie the 
title. In every club, lodge, association and con- 
vention, are faithless men — false to avowed prin- 
ciples. Farmers and merchants are no exception 
to the weakness or the wrong that pertains to 
humanity. 

With this understanding we may study the per- 
versions in business relations. There is wrong; done. 
No doubt about it. We do not believe that the 
guilt belongs altogether to the individuals of one 
class. Business has not all been fair. Crookedness 
has cut a large swath. There is guilty splendor on 
the one hand, and honest poverty on the other. 
What causes brought about these conditions? 
Were they normal? 

Without discussing these questions, attention is 
directed to the fact that the Southern situation since 
1865 was an invitation and a temptation to a great 
deal of crooked business. The situation deserves 
consideration. The people were poor. The credit 
system was the mode of doing business. Tens of 
thousands of white farmers were incapable of doing 



1 68 The Ills of the SotUh. 

business in this way, without ruin. They did not 
understand what they were doing, even when the 
merchants were thoroughly honest dealers. They 
could not afford to pay long-time credit prices. If 
this is not true, how shall we explain the impover- 
ished condition of Southern farmers in general ? If 
the dealer was dishonest, swift ruin was inevitable. 
The negroes were all ignorant. Their custom was 
sought. They bought without rhyme or reason, as 
long as the prospect to pay was good. The lien 
law, intended as a blessing to them, proved a curse, 
as it practically alienated them, by their own choice, 
from their old masters. Those who fell into the 
hands of unscrupulous dealers, became bondsmen 
a second time. These peculiar circumstances were 
favorable to rascality. The successful cheat, if a 
dealer, soon became rich ; if a farmer, white or 
black, he made a little which the high prices paid 
by the honest farmer covered. 

Some of the underlying principles that gave rise 
to rascality are well worth consideration. Disowned 
they may be, but their existence is real, and, as 
active governing motives, the results show them 
potential. Men love power. It is inherent in the 
constitution of man. There is no real '' Wamba " 
or *' Gurth " in all the Southland to-day. A con- 
dition exists but little removed from that of an age 
gone forever. Many an Anglo-Saxon has a collar 
around his neck quite as galling as the iron ring 
worn by Wamba. Upon its gorget may be read 
the significant inscription: "Harry Yellowly, the 
son of Hardfate, is the lienserf of Isaac Shellwell," 



The Perversions in Business. 169 

or, " Dick Fitzurse, the son of Riskall, is the thrall 
of Wagter Brothers." 

Merchants that succeeded under existing business 
methods, became rich in a few years — some very 
rich. Failures were inevitable. Bad debts were 
rarely paid. Debts secured, in many instances, the 
land paid the claim. When every circumstance is 
considered, the farmers fared the worst. None are 
rich. Thousands are miserably poor — even men 
that started with no debts encumbering their prop- 
erty. These hard and unreasonable conditions 
upon which the necessities of life, the bread and 
meat supply, were made dependent, were fruitful in 
conduct that can not be reconciled by any principles 
of common justice. " Thou shalt not muzzle the 
ox when he treadeth out the corn," is a merciful 
command for the interest of the ox. But to impose 
a percentage which can not be extorted from the soil 
shows less consideration for the man than the beast. 
Frankness demands, and justice, '' You can not buy 
on these terms and avoid beggary and bondage." 

" Might is right " is expressive of oppression as 
old as humanity. It fills a dark and dreary chapter 
in history. The clumsy and brutal weapons em- 
ployed to enforce it in ages past, are no longer in 
use, but the doctrine is still in the world. Power 
still confronts weakness. Its false and vicious intent 
is not blazoned to the world. It uses delicate 
machinery for the enforcement of its end. All 
power unjustly used is of this nature. *' I have 
him in my power," is too often the expression not 
of right, but of might ; and to use that might 



i7o The Ills of the South. 

unjustly is atrocious. The tools used in the prac- 
tical application of the maxim to business are, 
money employed to produce monopoly values in 
food supplies ; advantages of every sort that the 
creditor may have over the debtor, or the debtor 
over the creditor; and circumstances as varied as 
human wants. The tricks of trade, the jugglery of 
laws, the art of deception, perjury itself, a wanton 
disregard for truth and honor, have all been called 
into requisition to support this species of tyranny. 
An adept in this sort of crookedness is vulgarly 
styled " a smart business man." Rehoboam's yoke 
is heavy. 

Mr. Hacker is reputed an honest man — he pays 
his debts promptly. This is well, but is this one 
virtue to be used as a substitute for meanness and 
avarice ? Is it not Mr. Hacker's rule to use every 
advantage over those with whom he has dealings, 
that money and circumstances give him? Did he 

not buy Mr. 's school warrant, face value $40, 

for $18, when he knew that it would be paid at 
farthest in two years ? That teacher had a large 
family. Hacker asked an old neighbor 40 per cent, 
for the use of $100 on twelve months' time. He 
took a yoke of oxen from a man who was owing 
him for $30, and sold them next week for $65, and 
this was *' cheap as dirt." He bought at the highest 
market price. In trade, he was exorbitant, unmer- 
ciful. One hundred per cent, profit was fair. 
" Stubbs ! This is the way to do business." It was 
a favorite saying of his. 

A gentleman thus philosophized concerning hon- 



The Perversions m Business, 1 7 1 

est Mr. Hacker and his one vicarious virtue : 
" Were the leading men in the various counties of 
the Southern States all honest Mr. Hackers, in a 
few years there would neither be a school nor a 
church in the land. Professional men would take 
their talents elsewhere ; public enterprise would 
die a still death ; the people would, in a few years, 
be reduced to a state of serfdom. He never at- 
tended a meeting of his fellow-citizens, save from 
compulsion ; from choice and interest in the public 
good, never. His epitaph will read: 'Here lies 
the body of Nabal Hacker, His life was selfish ; 
his ruling passion asserted itself in death — Save the 
property.' His one vicarious virtue, honesty, is on 
record ; his dominant selfishness and his other quali- 
ties must be read in the poverty and the desolation 
of the homes and the people over whom he had 
the advantage." 

Another bad doctrine that has gained favor in 
practice, is that right and wrong are contingent on 
knowledge. The obsequious Uriah Heep could not 
look more humble than some men in expressing 
their entire confidence in its soundness. "There 
is big money in nigger trade." Certainly, there is 
no telling what a benumbed and tattered conscience 
will permit a man to do when money-making is the 
life-blood of such a soul. " To do justice to all men, 
black and white, ignorant and informed, is the law 
of God. The negro has rights — to deal fairly with 
him is one of the simplest. Justice demands it. 
The lowest consideration that it is bad public policy 
forbids injustice in every form, especially to the 



172 1 he Ills of the South, 

ignorant and the weak. ' It is business.' This is 
a diabolical defence. ' Niggers cannot tell twelve 
ounces from a pound ; twenty-four inches from a 
yard ; and they don't know the cost or the qualities 
of goods.' The very best reasons why they should 
be protected. How have ignorant white men fared 
under such a guardianship? How many liens have 
been recorded in the county clerk's office whose 
fatal cross mark was never made by a black hand ? 
'Guilty wealth!' Chuckle over it, who will. It 
is an infamous load to carry down to the grave. 
Vicarious virtues will be published in the ' In 
Memoriam,' and then go down to dust and forget- 
fulness. But such acts will be embalmed in the 
memory of living sufferers, and read on the historic 
page of ' splendid guilt.' " 

The retaliatory idea has also played a part in the 
conduct of men. Wrong means wrung, twisted, 
bent, perverse. All wrong is a twisted affair. It 
soils heart and hands. It has stings for the ap- 
pointed hour. It is a horrible companion in the 
midnight watches. One wrong is not an adjust- 
ment of another wrong, but a shoot from the same 

perverse stock. The fact that A cheated the 

people out of $50,000 can never be pleaded in justi- 
fication of B's conduct to cheat A. One robbery 
does not adjust another robbery. Such measures 
knock the bottom out of character, and no wreck in 
life is attended with such far-reaching consequences 
as character scarred by injustice or passion. The 
inheritance is transmitted to children's children. 
No amount of wealth can compensate for the loss 



The Perversions in Business. 173 

of incorruptible integrity. On this subject, the 
counsels of an old book have stood every test — tried 
in the furnace. Every misfortune has declared the 
lessons of wisdom pure and true. Some of these les- 
sons are : " A good name is rather to be chosen than 
great riches ; " " He that walketh uprightly, walketh 
surely ; " " He that getteth riches, and not by right, 
shall lose them in the midst of his days, and at his 
end shall be a fool." Whatever else may be depre- 
ciated, these truths in their wide application have 
never been discounted. To retaliate wrong with 
wrong is a vengeful cheat. 

Wrong-doing has many phases. All failures in 
business are not honest. The true man compelled to 
yield to inevitable circumstances may become poor, 
but he comes through the fiery trial with a spotless 
name. His word is still his bond, and the syno- 
nym of truth and honor. The circumstantial evi- 
dence in many a failure points to a different result. 
What an amount of artful work must be necessary 
to prepare for such a fraudulent scheme! The 
books must be doctored; merchandise must be 
spirited away, if it be part of the plan ; notes given 
for fictitious money and passed to the credit of bills 
payable to make one of the preferred creditors look 
like a decent, honorable gentleman. Preparation for 
the solemn act of perjury is essential, as w^ell as for 
the hard and disturbing questions of the lawyers. 
Assets and liabilities must be arranged. Accounts 
of good debtors must be closed in the main ledger, 
and transcribed to a separate book, and payments by 
these debtors agreed upon by private arrangement. 



1 74 The Ills of the South. 

These methods and others that have not been 
brought to our attention are more or less necessary 
in fraudulent failures to make these scurvy transac- 
tions look fair and honest. The liabilities are greater 
than the assets, yet the poor man in a short while 
appears to have more money than he had before 
his credit went to zero. These dark occurrences in 
business are sledge-hammer blows to confidence. 

We would not add a feather's weight to the mis- 
fortunes of a true man. Legitimate business amid 
disaster deserves that generous consideration which 
misfortunes always evoke from noble spirits. Such 
business when prosperous will always obtain the 
award due to the high qualities of character and 
management which make success possible. Wealth 
legitimately and honorably made can not be the 
object of envy or reproach. It is the fruit of merit 
and business capacity. 

There is a terrible evil in the country, striking 
herculean blows at truth. The solemn appeal to 
God in our courts, with the implied belief in retribu- 
tive justice, is often a heartless mockery. Perjury 
riots with demoniacal glee in the temples of justice. 
Forsworn witnesses suborned in desperate cases 
defy the law. Legal talent of the highest order too 
often racks ingenuity to exalt a technicality into a 
fundamental principle, beclouds the plain intent of 
the law, and minimizes the value of conclusive testi- 
mony. ''A sharp legal practitioner" is a common 
term. " Elaborate tissues of circumstantial false- 
hood, chicanery, forgery, and perjury" are the com- 
mon weapons used to destroy the plain import of 



The Perversions in Business. 175 



the law. Life, liberty and property are in danger. 
The too frequent use of this villanous enginery has 
brought the courts of the country into disrepute. 
The veneration for law and the confidence in courts 
are jostled by the miscarriage of their intent. Is 
there no legislative wisdom in the land to provide a 
remedy against these evils, so damaging to the 
interests of society ? 

In the marts of trade, in the administration of 
government, in all those relations of life, in which 
money, property or interest is the main considera- 
tion, truth is mangled. We have confidence in the 
statements of thousands. Were it not so, business 
would come to a dead halt. Into this goodly fel- 
lowship of truth-loving men, have crept the liars. 
'' The Cretians are always liars, evil beasts," and the 
Cretians are found where a penny is to be made or 
a personal interest is at stake. 

A lie is a confession of weakness. It resorts 
naturally to secresy and darkness, to whispers, and 
to reticence when nearing the confines of truth. A 
lie can be a mute, and thus affects prudence, wisdom 
and dignity in the drapery of falsehood. What can 
not be accomplished by a straightforward course, is 
attempted by circumvention. Many an unworthy 
enterprise would fail, if truth directed the issue. 
The hope of attainment depends upon truth carved 
and clipped. A lie dares not reveal itself. The 
Bengalee on the Lower Ganges typifies the tribe. 
'•Courage, independence, veracity, are qualities to 
which his constitution and his situation are equally 
unfavorable. What the horns are to the buffalo, 



1 76 The Ills of the South, 

what the paw is to the tiger, what the sting is to 
the bee, . . . deceit is to the Bengalee." 

An American writer has given quite a variety of 
lies prepared in the manufactory for the demand of 
the market to impose on the weak and the unfortu- 
nate. They are not the Hteral tools of burglars and 
highway robbers, but the equally dangerous instru- 
,ments of the children of the Bengalees and the 
Cretians. Here are the samples furnished : " Large 
lies and small lies; lies private and lies public, and 
lies prurient; lies cut bias and lies cut diagonal; 
long limb lies and lies with double back action ; lies 
complimentary and lies defamatory ; lies that some 
people believe, and lies that all the people believe, 
and lies that nobody believes ; lies with humps like 
camels and scales like crocodiles, and necks as long 
as storks and feet as swift as an antelope's, and stings 
like adders; crawling lies and jumping lies and soar- 
ing lies." Honor is prostituted ; shame is without 
a blush; evils national, municipal, civic and private, 
have too often their substratum in a compact of 
lies. 

There is another evil not coordinate with any of 
those named, but intimately related to them, and to 
wrongs of every sort. It is the doctrine that a man 
in a public position must not express his convic- 
tions concerning any wrong that affects the interests 
of society. It is a doctrine firmly rooted in the 
general belief. It is entertained by many excellent 
men, whose motives are pure. Others there are who 
see through the thin gauze, the naked falsehood. 
Men of convictions are many, but men who dare 



The Perversions Z7t Business, 177 

express these convictions for the pubHc good are 
not so numerous. 

Men in pubhc positions are merchants, ministers, 
teachers, lawyers, physicians, poHticians, and all per- 
sons who in any way are dependent upon the people 
for support, patronage, or votes. Society is the 
sum of the individuals composing it. Moral evils 
exist in this society — they must not be assailed ; 
there are pernicious laws, promotive of the interest 
of a few, hurtful to the many — their ill effects must 
not be analyzed ; an unwise and unhealthy mode of 
business takes root in the thought and habits of the 
people, its pecuniary benefits accrue to a class and 
its damaging effects touch every other member of 
the community — no reformatory influence must be 
put in motion ; the surreptitious selling of liquor is 
quite common, it is designated by the term Blind 
Tiger, the law is cheated, and the community is in- 
jured — no one must speak out. Individual respon- 
sibility is nowhere to be found ; it is a worm-eaten 
commodity, and as thin and small and '' scentless as 
a cake of soap in a public bathing room." The 
guilty vendors of the article, and their patrons, and 
all those who wish to prove that prohibition does 
not entirely prohibit, no more than the laws against 
fraud, theft, robbery, or murder entirely and abso- 
lutely prohibit these crimes, nevertheless they are 
wise laws — are silent, even if they have guilty knowl- 
edge. Those in public positions are mute for pru- 
dential reasons. To speak out, may hurt the trade, 
the business, or may cost some votes. He who 
antagonizes any evil is sure to excite the ill-will of 
12 



178 The Ills of the South, 

somebody. In short, this fallacious doctrine flatly 
asserts that men, whatever may be their position, 
are not responsible for the influence they are 
competent to exert. This negative character thus 
taught is a deadly poison. The moral dry-rot must 
go on. The contagious, inflammatory distemper 
must be allowed to send out its putrid effluvia into 
every household. 

Another view. Public opinion is the prevailing 
opinion of the community. You and I help to 
make it. If it is virtuous, it is a blessing. But it 
can only be a blessing when it is a dominant force 
in society. It can never be a controlling force if 
the men who make this opinion are '' all dumb dogs 
that can not bark." 

There is not an evil in society to-day that could 
not be largely checked or exterminated, were it not 
for this vicious doctrine of irresponsibility. But 
" what is everybody's business is nobody's business." 
The fallacious adage conveys less than a half truth. 
If A, B and C are charged to do a certain work, it is 
their duty solely to perform it. Nobody else has 
anything to do with it. This feature finds large 
application in practical life. But human responsi- 
bility and moral influences have no such narrow 
limits. It is everybody's business to do right, to 
promote sound morals, to obey and uphold the 
laws of the country, to be loyal and true, and to 
stand up in a manly way for principles. 

What about prudence ? It is a good quahty in 
its place. To be cautious — to consider what is to 
be done and how the end is to be attained, are 



The Perversio7is in Business. 179 

valuable in every undertaking. Do this and act. 
It is a mere preliminary step to the more important 
thing, action. If it is all prudence — all selfish con- 
siderations — balancing of gains and losses when 
moral questions demand attention, it is as valuable 
as a cracked bell when the town is on fire. The 
house will burn to ashes before prudence can resolve 
to extend a helping hand. The man who makes 
prudence his sole guide in moral questions is selfish. 
This is the law of ethics. The man who is governed 
by duty is virtuous. Selfish considerations enter 
not into the equation. Prudence consults ease, 
pleasure, money, gains, losses and votes. Duty is 
governed by no such earthenware considerations. 
What is the right, and the obligations that it im- 
poses ? Duty has nothing to do with consequences. 
Prudence queries: "Am I my brother's keeper?" 
Selfishness in all its deep loathsomeness is in the 
skulking interrogatory. The reply of duty is calm 
and majestic: *' Thou shalt love thy neighbor as 
thyself." And this means, render him service, and 
the highest service that can be rendered to humanity 
is to emphasize the right by every available means. 

Away with the delusion of the wretched doctrine ! 
Away with the accursed peace it would purchase by 
selfish considerations ! Away with all the deadly 
evils lurking in many noxious recesses, which mere 
selfish prudence would rather endure and tolerate 
than by manly efforts exterminate ! 

The gist of the whole matter is : there are times and 
occasions when it is the duty of all men to speak 
and to act. Convictions must find a voice. When 



i8o The Ills of the South. 

laws are surreptitiously and shamelessly violated ; 
when grievous wrongs artfully enslave the unwary ; 
when crimes go unwhipped of justice, and the eva- 
sion of the laws by means subtile or desperate is 
the order of the day, then this duty to speak out 
is imperative. To be silent under such circum- 
stances is not manly — it is immoral. 

Dr. J. G. Holland pertinently remarks on this 
subject : 

"It is for this peace that numbers have failed to set themselves 
against great evils that threaten their neighbors, themselves and their 
children. 

" A man v^^ho only asserts so much of that which is in him as will 
find favor with those among whom he has his daily life, and who 
withholds all that will wound their vanity and condemn their selfish- 
ness and clash with their principles and prejudices, has no more 
manhood in him than there is in a spaniel, and is certainly one of the 
most contemptible men the world contains." 

The whole truth is, the selfish man, with sordid 
aims, " seeks to make the world useful to himself," 
even if the attempt bankrupts the people in life and 
in property. He risks nothing, and does nothing 
that will affect his interest. Such a man may die 
amid affluence and be buried with fashionable eclat, 
but he did not " live well." The true man, with 
higher instincts and nobler aims, " seeks to make 
himself useful to the world." 

The character of Sir William Temple, as described 
by Macaulay, illustrates this bad doctrine to decline 
a public service when that service might endanger 
personal interest. 

"Yet Temple is not a man to our taste. A temper not naturally 
good, but under strict command, — a constant regard to decorum, — 



The Perversions in Business, i8i 

a rare caution in playing that mixed game of skill and hazard, 
human life, — a disposition to be content with small and certain win- 
nings rather than go on doubling the stake, — these seem to us to be 
the most remarkable features of his character. This sort of modera- 
tion when united, as in him it was, with very considerable abilities, is, 
under ordinary circumstances, scarcely to be distinguished from the 
highest and purest integrity ; and yet maybe perfectly compatible with 
laxity of principle, with coldness of heart, and with the most intense 
selfishness. Temple, we fear, had not sufficient warmth and eleva- 
tion of sentiment to deserve the name of a virtuous man. He did 
not betray or oppress his country ; nay, he rendered considerable 
service to her ; but he risked nothing for her. ... If the cir- 
cumstances of the country became such that it was impossible to 
take any part in politics without some danger, he retired to his 
library and his orchard ; and while the nation groaned under oppres- 
sion, or resounded with tumult and with the din of civil arms, 
amused himself by writing memoirs and tying up apricots." 

This complacent attitude which ignores responsi- 
bihty and manly expressions upon questions of the 
highest moment, is found in all the gradations of 
society. Men wink at crime, connive at vice, and 
sometimes shut eyes and ears to wrongs of every hue 
and type. It is not meant that they approve these 
things, but they shirk the responsibility to express 
condemnation, and to bring guilt before the proper 
tribunal. And this want of individual responsi- 
bility has enfeebled the administration of justice, 
lowered the tone of public morals, and affected the 
material interests of the people. The man who 
expresses his convictions on any important matter, 
however sound, however true, however pure the 
motive, if he antagonizes personal or class interests 
— interests hurtful to the community, may expect 
maledictions. The Ephesian coppersmith is more 
concerned with gains than sound morals and the 



1 82 The Ills of the South, 

public welfare. The successful fraud is more likely 
to receive fulsome congratulations. Public opinion 
must be toned up to a higher standard, and individ- 
ual obligations and individual responsibility must 
be vitalized with truth and principles. 

The moral forces of society are not only entitled 
to high and earnest consideration, but the intense 
obligation upon all classes of men to make them 
dominant is the demand of the age. Great princi- 
ples must be reinforced and grounded in the belief. 
Their supreme importance must be established in 
the thought and the affections of men. Every 
agency by which this is done is a boon to society. 
All hostile influence to such agency is also hostile 
to the best interests of the community. Wealth is 
of far less value to society than robust morals. It 
may not be fashionable to say this, but it is the 
truth nevertheless. " Breeding, brains, or bullion," 
it is said, determine the laws for the " best society," 
and bullion is generally the controlling spirit. But 
when did wealth make any attempt to regenerate 
society, reform an abuse, or seek the elevation of 
humanity? An eminent writer thus expresses him- 
self : *' There is hardly a fact in all history more 
patent than this, that in the undertaking and prose- 
cuting any humane or Christian reform, the fashion- 
able classes are never to be relied upon for aid, 
while their opposition in one form or another is cer- 
tain." Wealth and fashion, in varying degrees, go 
hand in hand. We point to the general rules, and 
not to the noble exceptions. Is wealth, then, to be 
despised ? No ! The meaning is : its place is sub- 



The Perversions in Business, 183 

ordinate to the far higher consideration of the moral 
forces in all the interests that affect man. 

This view of the value of great underlying princi- 
ples of morality is forcibly presented by a Southern 
statesman. He says : 

" Our public men reflect the conscience of the nation, and are our 
representatives in politics and morals. By them are the people judged 
and influenced. . . . False notions of moral responsibility under- 
mine all solid ground for virtue ; destroy courageous self-reliance and 
independence ; elevate expediency and availability above worth and 
principle ; beget vacillation and time-serving, encourage a habit of 
appealing from eternal verity to the force of numbers ; and generate 
a brood of slimy sycophants, vt'ho fawn and flatter in order to fatten 
on popular credulity.' The common distinction betwixt political and 
personal honesty is a delusion and a fraud. The politician who is 
disingenuous, tricky, untruthful, dishonest, is unfit to be trusted in 
public or in private life. Virtue is permanent, and circumstances 
cannot efface the distinction between right and wrong. The capri- 
ciousness of human nature does not ally duplicity and honesty ; nor 
do vicarious virtues compensate for crime. Marlborough was an 
invincible warrior of consummate courage and ability, loved his am- 
bitious wife devotedly, but these should not win forgiveness for his 
cruelty, hardness of heart, falsehood, avarice, and treason. Colonel 
Turner, a gallant cavalier, was hung after the Restoration for a fla- 
gitious burglary. At the gallows, he told the crowd that his mind 
received great consolation from one reflection— he had always taken 
off his hat when he went into church. To be the wisest of mankind 
is no excuse for being the meanest. . . . 

"Commerce, mechanic arts, agriculture, literature, heroes, battle- 
fields, internal improvements, free institutions, will not regenerate 
a nation nor insure its permanent welfare. Christianity, breathing 
mercy, justice, truth, fraternity, must be its basis, and give sanction 
to its laws. The vices which degrade men will destroy a republic. 
Meanness, avarice, drunkenness, extortion, insolence, cruelty, syco- 
phancy, falsehood, bribery, will dishonor and ruin any people. A 
low standard of integrity will demoralize, corrupt, overthrow. The 
right and true must find embodiment in statutes. God's law and 
civil laws must run in parallel lines. Mischievous and meaningless 



184 The Ills of the South, 

else are representation, trial by jury, ballot-box, common schools, 
habeas corpus, constitutions, and 'checking and balancing of greedy 
knaveries.' When contracts and vows are treated as idle things ; 
when oaths from frequency or levity in administering become idle 
jests ; when vices are licensed by statute, and revenue is coined 
from crime ; and when in the shameless facility for divorce * the 
statute of heaven intended for the purity of home and lying at the 
foundation of all society,' is trodden under foot, a people may well 
study the history of dead nations, that Tekel, Tekel, be not written 
over the doors and on the walls of their capitols, seats of learning, 
and sanctuaries." * 

It has been fashionable to boast of the wealth of 
this nation. Here are sixty million people, and 
sixty thousand million dollars represent their aggre- 
gate wealth. Who are the owners? 

200 people are worth $4,000,000,000 

400 people are worth 4,000,000,000 

1,000 people are worth 5,000,000,000 

2, 500 people are worth 6, 250,c 00,000 

7,000 people are worth 7,000,000,000 

20,000 people are worih 10,000,000,000 

This was the schedule in 1890. By this time, three 
years later, it may be that forty thousand people 
own two-thirds of the national wealth. 

We would not be misunderstood. There should 
neither be prejudice nor hostility against wealth in 
any form. Righteously obtained and used, it is a 
blessing. This is the inflexible condition. Govern- 
ments, railroads, steamship lines, inventions and 
wealth are all to be construed as favorable to the 
interests of mankind when equitably used. They 
are curses to the people when they are transmuted 

* Hon. J. L. M. Curry. 



The Perversions in Business, 185 

into engines of oppression. Money is not an oppro- 
brious term. '' Money-borrower " and " money- 
lender " are not humiliating epithets. 

" The laborer is worthy of his hire." This is good 
doctrine. All the agents employed in production 
are entitled to their full pro rata of reward accord- 
ing to their effective capacity. These agents are 
the common laborer, skill and talent in all their 
diversified phases and wide application, responsibil- 
ity and honor attached to positions of trust and 
importance, and capital. The classification is gen- 
eral and will serve to convey the thought intended. 
We have no metric system by which to determine 
with exactness the distributive share of any produc- 
tion due to the agents employed in its creation. 
Equity will have little trouble in approximating the 
just portion to each. Fairness will solve the prob- 
lem on just principles. Unreasonable labor is just 
as hurtful to justice as unreasonable capital. When 
one acts the Nero and the other the Caligula, then 
both are tyrants. 

In i860 there were few millionaires in these 
United States. In thirty years from this period 
less than forty thousand people own nearly two- 
thirds of the national wealth. The statement is 
amazing. What is to prevent this forty thousand, 
with their vantage ground, from securing in the 
next thirty years, full ownership of the remaining 
one-third of the wealth? It may be announced to 
the world: America is the wealthiest nation on the 
earth — she is so to-day. Fifty thousand people own 
the aggregate property of the great Republic. And 



1 86 The Ills of the South. 

then in 1920, this announcement may be made: 
The American Republic is the greatest pauperized 
nation on the face of the globe. We hope it will 
not be so. There is certainly something wrong to 
make this millionaire condition possible. There is 
injustice somewhere. 

What part the National Government has contrib- 
uted to this condition ; what part capital itself has 
done; what is due to speculation; what is due to 
inventions — the great labor-saving machinery, and 
the inability of labor to adjust itself to these new 
conditions — all these furnish vast material for in- 
quiry. This one thing is certain, the gains of capi- 
tal are enormous. 

In the South, capital in trade, when successfully 
managed, has been by far the most remunerative 
investment. A return to normal methods may 
avert untold calamities. 



CHAPTER XI. 

TOWNS — THEIR INFLUENCE. 

A TOWN means more than a square mile of terri- 
tory. We use the term in a general sense, 
whether its inhabitants number 1,500 or 15,000. 
The community of such a place will have in view 
an object, more or less clearly defined. The essen- 
tial idea is occupation. Other considerations, such 
as convenience to schools and churches, and various 
privileges and facilities, may govern individuals ; bat 
the main thing for the majority is the work of such 
a place that can secure to them a living. Without 
employment the breadwinners are a burden to them- 
selves, and something worse in numerous instances 
to the community. 

The principal industry of the Southern people is 
agriculture. To this chief employment, the busi- 
ness of the majority of towns in the South is directly 
related. Towns where railroad shops are located, 
or where manufacturing interests and the lumber 
business furnish employment, are few. Probably 
ninety-five per cent, of all Southern communities 
gathered in towns depend for their support and 
existence upon the busy workers in distant cotton, 
cane, and rice fields. If this industry is depressed, 
the town suffers. The industries of these towns are 



1 88 The Ills of the South. 

expressed with sufficient exactness by the terms, 
*' trade and transportation, professional and personal 
service, mechanics and laborers." There is work 
for all of the four classes in every town. There is 
no danger that the three first named will overcrowd 
their vocations long. The fourth class is equal in 
number to all the other classes in many communi- 
ties, and in some places double and treble the three 
classes. The complexion of our population ac- 
counts for this fact. The suburbs of Southern 
towns and villages are alive with colored people. 
No observant person can fail to note the fact that 
the supply of laborers, so styled, in these communi- 
ties, is greater than the demand. The town is the 
reservoir into which the stream of this class from 
the adjacent country flows. 

Every town is ambitious of its business prosperity, 
its schools and its churches, and an important evi- 
dence of its growth is the increase of its population. 
It is human nature so to boast. No one doubts 
that Southern towns generally have a large surplus 
population. The truth about this matter can hurt 
no one. A larger laboring population in any place 
than the work there requires is not a sign of health, 
but of disease. The outside world and reflecting 
men may construe the parade about population as a 
satire on this unfortunate status and the burdens it 
imposes on the municipal government. Five hun- 
dred people, less or more, in a town, without money, 
work or bread, are not convincing proofs of a pros- 
perous condition. " Nudity and rags," says Horace 
Mann, *^ are only human idleness or ignorance 



Towns — Their hijiuencc. 189 

out on exhibition." It is a cheap exhibition, save 
the effect it has on the tax schedule to provide 
for the expense of the criminal docket. There is no 
question about the statement that there are large 
numbers of colored people in our towns whose con- 
dition would be greatly improved were they on 
farms where their labor is in demand. As it is, 
they eke out a precarious existence. According to 
the tenth and the eleventh census, in the ten 
Southern States used as a basis of comparison, out 
of 6,937 townships, 2,061 lost population. This is 
nearly thirty per cent, in ten years. These figures 
do not indicate the entire movement to the towns. 
There is not a township probably in any Southern 
State, notwithstanding the general increase of pop- 
ulation, from which there has not been a colored 
exodus. 

" Let us reason together." A depletion of this 
labor in the country can not benefit the town. The 
Southern farm is the town's remunerative workshop. 
The prosperity of the town hinges on the success of 
the farm. This is quite evident. But is even this 
gainful idea a matter of thought— a matter of sym- 
pathetic interest ? Good roads to a town are neces- 
sary, but labor on the farm is more so. Indifference 
on the part of those most concerned will not help 
matters. A dealer that will sell a farmer $500 mer- 
chandise on time, and buy him a mule besides, may 
not regard himself under any moral obligation to 
turn the idle labor at his door into a useful channel. 
" It is not my business." Certainly not. But a 
man can be humane — can be helpful to those who 



1 90 The Ills of the Soitth. 

make business prosperous, especially when a little 
right influence costs not a nickel. A man need not 
crowd his life with all sorts of excuses, yellow, 
green, and speckled, when a little service is to be 
done, that would be helpful to the poor colored 
man, helpful to the merchant himself, and helpful 
to everybody. A little helpful influence exerted by 
all good and earnest men would do good. Generally 
speaking, there is altogether too much dependence 
upon law and law officers, and too little effort in life 
and practice to make virtuous opinions dominant. 
The best laws are evolved from virtuous public opin- 
ion, and this same opinion must aid to enforce these 
laws, stand by the officers when they execute the 
laws, and frown down upon unfaithful public ser- 
vants when they wink or connive at infractions, or 
fail in any wise to do their duty. It is too often the 
case, that the man who is loud in condemnation of 
unfaithfulness in public men, is the last man to put 
in motion one right influence to check the evil he 
condemns, or root up the causes that produce the 
evil. Idleness is one of them. It is not a virtuous 
commodity. It makes no man rich. It is a rotten 
thing within and without. It is a cruel thing. 
Hope is not in it — nor right. It produces no bread. 
It cheers no living man. It breeds crime. 

What can be done? Much everyway. In union 
there is strength. Concert of action can do a vast 
deal in town and country. Let the best men, the 
most influential men, come to the front. Let right 
motives and right actions dominate. Let an earnest 
inquiry go forth from such a source: "Why stand 



Towns — Their Influe7ice. 191 

ye here all the day idle ? " A committee on " Indus- 
trial Morals" is in order everywhere. Let the 
inquiry be made when the sun is high in the 
heavens. Moral suasion, wholesome counsel, and 
sympathetic interest will not be fruitless. The let- 
alone, do-nothing, irresponsible, negative policy has 
been weighed in the balance, and found wanting. 

^' Upon an area of six square miles," said a friend, 
" live eight hundred men and grown boys, who prac- 
tically live from hand to mouth. They are colored 
people. They could make 2,400 bales of cotton, 
80,000 bushels corn, 80,000 bushels sweet potatoes, 
and other produce." Yet not a friendly hand is 
stretched out to help them. It is manly to say to 
them : '* There is no work for all of you here. It 
is not to your interest to remain." 

If it be true that the country is the town's work- 
shop, much may be done to add to the efficiency of 
that workshop. Friendliness must show itself to be 
so. There is a reciprocal relation between them. 
If one is injured, so is the other. Absolute inde- 
pendence is nowhere to be found. The utmost 
good will and friendliness should exist between the 
merchant and the farmer. Fair dealing and hearty 
kindliness will cement this relationship. They 
apply to both alike. 

There is another matter of no small interest to 
the people. We refer to education ; especially to 
the public schools of Southern towns. It is one 
thing heartily to approve the education of the chil- 
dren of the State at the public expense, and it is 
another thing to indorse all the particulars of the 



192 The Ills of tJie South, 

plan to accomplish the desired end. There is no 
question as to the duty of the State to give a com- 
mon-school education to all her children. 

Our observations relate to the policy. In other 
words, to the quantity of the work that is attempted 
in the public schools of our agricultural towns rang- 
ing from i,ooo to 3,000 inhabitants. Wealthy cities 
can afford to do what these can not. 

In the first place, a common-school course of 
studies should be definitely confined to its proper 
work, as the term implies. It is the school for the 
masses in town and country. Spelling, reading, 
geography, arithmetic, English grammar, and United 
States history make an ample common-school course. 
This elementary course should be well taught. Thor- 
oughness is the crying need in these schools. 

Why not add other studies to this list ? The 
reasons are plain : our people are poor ; the pay of 
superior teachers is small ; inefficient teachers are 
numerous. From ninety to ninety-five pupils out 
of every hundred pursue the studies named. From 
a half-dozen to a dozen girls and boys in such a 
town are ready to take up advanced studies. This 
number is divided into three or four classes. They 
are generally the sons and daughters of well-to-do 
and influential parents. Of course, there is more or 
less forcing done ; not so much by the instructor 
as the parents. Another dozen of ill-prepared mate- 
rial may swell these higher classes, much to their 
injury, and to the hurt of those that are ready for 
the advanced work. 

Let us see how it works. The town builds a new 



Towns — Their Influence, 193 

schoolhouse, costing from $5,000 to $10,000. Now 
for a name. In a city of a hundred thousand or more 
inhabitants, a school of such material is styled '' pub- 
lic ; " in a small city, a graded school — quite appro- 
priate ; in the country, the village, or the town, such an 
institution takes a more ambitious title : it is a nor- 
mal school, or a high school, or a college. The town 
is on a boom, the college is on a boom, and a new 
broom sweeps clean. Everybody favors the school. 
Tuition costs nothing, except in the music depart- 
ment. 

In ten years the children of the few wealthy and 
influential patrons are educated ; they have finished 
the higher studies, taught under disadvantages, by 
teachers burdened with elementary work. But the 
taxes go on. These may amount for State, county, 
and town, to two and a half to three per cent. 

Who pay these taxes ? In towns such as de- 
scribed, the bulk is paid by two or three dozen men ; 
and of that number, a dozen merchants pay by far 
the larger portion. Leave them out, and the bottom 
drops out of the school. 

If meagre salaries are paid the one or two teachers 
of the high school, or if the whole number of teach- 
ers in the common and high school course is not 
sufficient for even the common free-school course, 
to do first-class work, since the number of pupils 
generally attending the public school of a town is 
large, inefficiency follows, however competent the 
teachers may be. If a requisite number of teachers 
are employed, and living salaries are paid, the ex- 
penses are increased, and this burden falls heavily 
13 



1 94 The Ills of the South. 

on the large business class of these towns — the mer- 
chants. It will not be borne many years. A limited 
course well taught, is far better than a long course 
ill taught. 

The country public school of four months' session 
imitates the town school with sessions from eight 
to ten months. Higher studies are added for two 
or three favorite pupils, and the attention these 
receive from the teacher is equal to the attention 
given to the second, third, and fourth reader classes. 
Three pupils in physical geography, general history, 
elementary algebra, and rhetoric, will take up more 
time in their recitations than twenty-four pupils in 
the lower studies. These studies are added when 
the demand is made, or when the circumstances are 
ifavorable for their introduction. 

A very common opinion is, ** the four months' 
free school " in the country is a failure. It has been 
the complaint for years. We have assigned a cause. 
Instead of doing well in this short time a small 
amount of work, a great deal is attempted, and that, 
as is the case in seventy-five schools out of a hun- 
dred, by inexperienced teachers. In a number of 
schools of this sort, personal inquiry revealed the 
fact, that a young lady teacher having from twenty- 
five to thirty-five pupils, attempted to teach the 
six common-school studies mentioned on a former 
page, and eight advanced studies besides, pursued 
by three pupils. She worried through the four 
months, attended one or two teachers' institutes, 
closed with a general examination and a concert, 
and she was paid for her work from $120 to $140. 



Towns — Their Influence. 195 

The best pupil in the school could not tell whether 
there were eight or fifteen parts of speech in Eng- 
lish grammar, and was perplexed to know to what 
the product of a half of a half referred. 

Better work in elementary studies is the need in 
these schools. To it every effort should be directed. 
The great evil of too much work, too many studies, 
is apparent. The towns set the example. They 
imitate the city ; the village and the country school, 
the town. 

The tendency of the town schools, especially if 
high-school studies form a part of the course, and 
instruction in the latter is free, is to invite country 
patronage. Several dozen children board with their 
relations or friends to enjoy the benefits of the town 
institution which furnishes free tuition to all that 
can come. The poor man's children can not come. 
The enrolment of the town school is thus increased 
a few dozen pupils. Here and there a few farmers 
move to town to secure these benefits, and generally 
leave the town with more experience than money. 

The town is not benefited, and those that come 
are not compensated for the loss sustained. People 
in pinched circumstances, perhaps involved in debt, 
leave their farms, upon which they are dependent 
to support their families, and come to town to edu- 
cate their children. The inducement is, education 
in town is free. Others move their families to town, 
governed by the same motive. This is all well, if a 
man is out of debt, and can see how to make ends 
meet, and support a part of the family on the farm 
and a part in town. The motive to educate is laud- 



196 The Ills of the South. 

able, but experience has shown that these methods 
adopted by anxious and ambitious parents to ac- 
complish the object are In the end unwise. Not a 
few farmers have thus crippled themselves financially 
for years, and that without educating their children 
in a free school. 

We need high schools, intermediate between the 
common schools and the colleges. They should be 
genuine, not makeshifts. Burdened as the South- 
ern States are with debts, crippled and uncertain 
as are the great farming interests of the country, 
the people are in no condition to maintain them at 
the public expense. Very few are the communities 
able to do this. The well-to-do people will patron- 
ize these schools, and they are able to pay for such 
education. 

The condition pointed out in educational matters 
can not last. There is confusion. It is difficult to 
tell where the common free school ends its work, 
and where the high school begins. Nothing is de- 
fined, nothing limited. Schools with all sorts of 
pompous names are springing up in the country. 
At every cross-road, village, and town there is a 
high school or a college. They flourish a few years, 
then die the death. Like Jonah's gourd, they spring 
up in a night, and perish in a night. 

The counterfeit always damages the genuine, for 
in many things they may be alike. The discerning 
alone can tell the difference between the true and 
the false, that which is permanent and that which 
is temporary. The tendency of the movement is 
hostile to gradation in school work, and discouraging 



Towns — Their htfluence, 197 

to every man who desires to make educational work 
a profession. No man with liberal preparation cares 
to enter this field at from $40 to $75 per month, 
with no hope of permanency or improvement in the 
remuneration. The counting-room, medicine, law, 
and mercantile business offer more inviting fields 
under these circumstances, and require no such 
intellectual equipment. 

The influence of towns, morally, is worthy of 
attention. There are good people in every town. 
But wherever population is massed, whether the 
number is 1,000, 5,000, or 100,000, there are moral 
dangers. Here the assaults on virtue are fierce. 
The term *' virtue " is used in a generic sense as 
standing for the entire circle of moral principles. 
The town is a life centre, a trade centre, an enter- 
prise centre, a crime centre, a vice centre, a centre 
of various influences put in motion by all sorts of 
people, differing widely in their motives and ob- 
jects in life. 

We note the influence of a class highly honorable 
on many accounts. The reference is to the business 
portion of the community; not the merchants alone, 
but all men engaged in honorable, honest, legitimate 
vocations in life. They constitute the respectable 
class in the town. Diligent, attentive, and punctual 
in their professions, callings, and business, they 
contribute their share to material prosperity. It is 
the industrious class. Take them out, and the 
bottom drops out of the place. 

The central object with the major portion of this 
class in society is business, and the dominant motive 



198 The Ills of the South, 

is material prosperity. To accumulate property is 
the end in life, worthy of every effort. If honor 
and distinction are added, they grace the fruit of 
their exertions. We are sure that we do no injustice 
to any one in the affirmation, that the majority of 
our law-abiding, industrious, and influential citizens 
in every community propose to themselves, as the 
supreme object in life, material prosperity. With 
not a few, every other consideration is secondary ; 
and, we are confident, with many, every other con- 
sideration is zero. It is not meant that they are 
indifferent to their families, the ordinary social 
relations, or the amenities of life. No ! The very 
appeals of charity are made to them, and will 
obtain a hearing with most of them. Much that is 
pleasant and amiable is found here. Earnest efforts 
to secure material well-being are indorsed by prin- 
ciples human and divine. It is a means to an end. 
It is not half of that for which life was given. 

Moral influences are needed everywhere, and 
especially in those places where temptations to evil 
are numerous, and the strain upon morals is the 
greatest. Habits, customs, certain social influences, 
idleness, a low public opinion, fashionable acquies- 
cence in wrongs of various types — these make a 
tremendous strain on the right. The pernicious 
example of a man of influence is incalculable. He 
may poison the minds of whole platoons of men 
whose conduct he despises. That example may 
consist in nothing more than placing a discount on 
morals, in depreciating their value. W^ealth is nec- 
essary to individual comfort ; morals are essential 



Tow7ts — Their Inflzcence, 199 

to hold society together. The latter is entitled to 
the first place in the affections, esteem, and prac- 
tices of men. This gives power and beauty to char- 
acter, and lies at the foundation of all well-ordered 
society. 

It is a great truth that no man lives to himself. 
No life is isolated. Every man is in a community, 
and of a community. He can not separate himself 
from it. The vicious influence which he shuns, and 
about which he is indifferent because it does not 
concern him, is in the community of which he is a 
part. Its miasma reaches his home and his place of 
business. He may wish to have nothing to do with 
it, but it will have something to do with him. This 
is certain. Vice and wrong of every kind are threats 
against everybody. For these reasons, the depre- 
ciation by word or act, of great moral principles, is 
an incalculable injury. 

The town is also a political centre. The oppor- 
tunity is here furnished to impart lessons of patriot- 
ism. Governmental affairs so directly concern all 
the people, rich and poor, that it would seem any 
matter of a political nature relating to the munici- 
pality, county, or State, would enlist the interest of 
the most responsible and influential citizens. If 
good government is so important to the welfare of 
the people, it seems that they would emphasize its 
value by interest in its affairs. The interest should 
be commensurate with the exalted end in view. It 
is the solemn duty of all good citizens to show by 
their acts, and by sacrifices if need be, that " this is 
a government of the people, by the people, and 



200 The Ills of the South. 

for the people." Individual responsibility to the 
government is the essential condition to make this 
possible. 

We hear much in our day of *' thug-rule, ring-rule, 
and class-rule." A government of a dozen, by a 
dozen, and for a dozen, is a sign of decay both as to 
interest and responsibility. But who is to blame? 
Not the dozen. Blame those who plead indiffer- 
ence, who plead excuses and dissatisfaction, who 
plead, perhaps, despair of improvement. Blame 
those who will not help to remove bad men from 
office, and aid in the enactment of wise and benefi- 
cent laws. Dispassionate discussion defines the 
boundary of truth. Individual interest and respon- 
sibility of all the people are signal marks of healthy 
progress. It is a lamentable sign when a large 
number of the poorest conditioned men, morally 
and intellectually, are the guardians of political 
interests. 



CHAPTER XII. 

THE PROGRESS OF THE NEGROES. 

THEY were brought to America by compulsion ; 
they were sold to Southern planters when 
interest dictated the bargain ; others were brought 
from Africa and sold to the Southern people by 
reason of the same selfish motive; and they were 
liberated by no act of their own. Whether enslaved 
or made freedmen, the effort was not their act. 
They have ever been the football of superior races. 
Degraded in slavery, or elevated by philanthropy, 
the moving force, whether a curse or a blessing. Is 
from without. No Joshua has appeared among 
them. White captains dared the dangers Incident 
to their enslavement. Adventurous cunning and 
cupidity placed upon the neck of the negroes the 
yoke of bondage. In submission they yielded to 
the curse. White statesmen, white philanthropists, 
and white organized efforts have exerted themselves 
untiringly, and In large and noble measures, to ele- 
vate them during the last five and twenty years. 
What has been done for the negroes, In bane or in 
blessing, has neither been proposed nor done by the 
negroes. White men write and speak In their be- 
half ; white men give their money In the interests of 
the negroes, and white men do the effective think- 



202 The Ills of the South. 

ing for their good. The negroes are passive. All 
the predominant influence for their elevation is 
extraneous. This is a luminous fact in the history 
of this people. They have been a fruitful cause of 
contention to the American people. They are a 
bone of contention to-day. The negro problem 
does not concern them as a class, but the white 
people are anxious about its solution. The negroes 
are an amazingly helpless people. 

Amid the strife and progress of the ages, what 
book, what invention, what trophy in the arts or let- 
ters, what achievement in the field of industry, what 
brave and wise leadership on some ensanguined bat- 
tle-ground, and what persistent and triumphant vic- 
tory in any great moral contest of humanity, signalize 
the part which the sons of Ham have taken in civil- 
ization ? On the North American Continent they 
have been in close touch with the stirring activities 
of the Anglo-Saxon people. What have they ab- 
sorbed and utilized ? The encouragement of friends, 
the leverage of government, the presence of inspir- 
ing Anglo-Saxon examples, have given birth to no 
high purpose and to no generous spirit of self-de- 
pendence among this people. The very incentives 
of personal and political freedom have impaired 
their energy. The story of their wrongs, and the 
results of all the intellectual and moral agencies 
instituted for their advancement, are written by 
Anglo-Saxon pens. The world is still waiting for 
some pen-mark, some epic, that shall chronicle the 
deeds of a pure Hamite, some granite monument 
that shall commemorate the heroic or civic services 



The Progress of the Negroes. 203 

of a son of Ham. The past is a dreary waste, bar- 
ren of results. The hope and the inspiration of the 
future are palled by the past. 

Kinds of Negroes. 

" The great primordial nations of Ham were first four — those o£ 
Mezer, Cush, Phut, and Canaan. Of these, the nation of Canaan 
was much the largest, consisting of twelve nations ; that of Mezer 
was composed of seven nations ; Cush, of six ; while Phut made 
only a single nation. Five of the nations descended from Canaan 
were destroyed, enslaved, or expelled from Judea by Joshua, and 
six have left no written history. . . . Turning to Africa, we 
find, according to ethnologists, four great types, the jMoorish, the 
Egyptian, the Berber, or Abyssinian, and the Negro. Of these the 
Mauric type seems descended from Phut, the Egyptian from Mezer, 
the Abyssinian from Cush, and the Negro from Canaan." 

" The negro type is found aboriginal in Africa, in the Fejee 
Islands, New Guinea, New Caledonia, and Madagascar. Its nations 
are all black or brownish-black. The hair of the negro is woolly 
and wiry ; his features generally broad and flattened, though there 
are several tribes of them who have, in connection with woolly hair 
and dusky skin, the most elegant forms and features, as among the 
Caffres and lolofs. , . . There seem to be six or seven kinds 
of negroes, which we enumerate as follows : (i) The Hottentots, (2) 
the Caffres, (3) the Guinea negro, and (4) the lolofs, all of Africa ; 
(5) the Papuan of Oceanica, (6) Negrillo of New Guinea, and (7) 
the Australian negro. The Guinea negro, common with tcs, has 
woolly hair and black skin, thick lips, a broad, Jlat nose, prognathous 
jaws, narrow and receding forehead, a sletider waist, high hips, 
slender limbs, 2,Vid. massive feet, rounded on the bottom. . . . The 
lolofs, in addition to woolly hair 2x1^ jet-black skijt, possess z. fine 
form and strictly European features. The Caffres are of woolly 
hair, blackish-brown complexion, and ha\e fne form and features.'^ * 

If this description of the descendants of Canaan, 
the son of Ham and the grandson of Noah, be 

* Dominion ; or. The Unity and Trinity of the Human Race. 



204 



The Ills of the South. 



accurate, we have in these United States the 
Guinea negro, the lolofs, and the Caffres. To 
these must be added those in whose veins flow one- 
half, three-fourths, or seven-eighths white blood, or 
the mulattoes, the quadroons, and the octoroons. 
(The last three will hereafter be designated by the 
common title, mulatto.) These four classes are 
found on American soil. The Guinea negroes con- 
stitute an overwhelming majority. The close ob- 
server may have seen a few lolofs and Caffres. 
What per cent, these are of the whole negro popu- 
lation can not be determined. The mulattoes con- 
stitute a little more than one-seventh of the entire 
population. The Guinea negroes, the lolofs, and 
the Caffres will be classed as black. According 
to the eleventh census. Bulletin No. 199, these 
Canaanites, or persons of African descent, may be 
arranged as to numbers thus : 

Blacks 6,337,980 

Mulattoes 956,989 

Quadroons 105,135 

Octoroons 69,936 — 1,132,060 

Total 7,470,040 

According to their residence they are found, as 
per Census Bulletin No. 199, as follows: 



RESIDENCE. 


BLACKS. 


MULATTOES. 




207,175 
16,477 

297,331 
2,823,905 
2,993,092 


62,731 
10,604 

133,781 

438,785 
486,159 


Western Division 


North Central States 


South Atlantic States 


South Central States 





The Progress of the Negroes. 205 



Of the whole African population in the North 
Atlantic States, 23 per cent, are mulattoes ; of those 
in the Western Division, 62 per cent, are mulattoes ; 
of those in the North Central States, 31 per cent, 
are mulattoes ; of those in the South Atlantic States, 
10 per cent, are mulattoes; and of those in the 
South Central States, 13 per cent, are mulattoes. 
In the three Northern Divisions were, in 1890, 
728,099 persons of African descent ; of this number, 
28 per cent were mulattoes. The Southern Divisions 
had at this time, 6,741,941 persons of African descent. 
Thirteen per cent, of this number were mulattoes. 

MOVEMENT. 
Of the entire mixed population— mulattoes, quad- 
roons, and octoroons— 17 per cent, are in the North. 
Of the black population, 8 per cent, are in the North. 
The ambitious, aspiring portion of this people are 
either mulattoes, quadroons, and octoroons, or the 
lolofs and Caffres. The mulattoes inherited the 
superior intellectual qualities of their fathers, and 
often their bad moral qualities. Ambition, pride, 
cunning, and resentment show themselves much 
more clearly in varying degrees in the mixed race 
than in the pure negro. The Guinea negro is sub- 
missive, humble, always jolly, cares little for the 
future, and is wanting both in resentment and 
gratitude. The jet-black and the blackish-brown 
negroes, styled by the author of Dominion, lolofs 
and Caffres, show far more intelligence than the 
Guinea type. They may constitute from 5 to 10 
per cent, of the pure African race. 



2o6 The Ills of the Soiith. 



LEADERS. 

The majority of those esteemed leaders of this 
race are mulattoes, with a small per cent, of higher 
type pure negroes. Generally il is the white blood 
of the mulattoes that pushes forward, that seeks the 
professions, looks with resentment upon the past, 
and boasts of its relationship to a white father. 
The lolofs and the Caffres are less ambitious, but 
more conservative. The lower strata, the great bulk 
of this population, have given no sign of an upward 
movement. The worthy specimens indicating prog- 
ress belong to these higher types. Rev. Henry M. 
Turner, Bishop of the African M. E. Church; Rev. 
J. A. Beebe, Bishop of the Colored M. E. Church ; 
Rev. Isaac Lane, Bishop of the Colored M. E. 
Church ; Rev. Lewis H. Holsey, Bishop of the 
Colored M. E. Church, are fine examples. Their 
photographs are found in a work entitled The 
Gospel among the Slaves, published by the Pub- 
lishing House of the M. E. Church South. In a 
book published by G. P. Putnam's Sons, entitled 
Prisoners and Paupers, by Henry M. Boies, M.A., 
are four photographs of pure negroes, whose features 
are not those of the Guinea type. They are Rev. 
Joseph C. Price, D.D., President of Livingston 
College, Salisbury, N. C. ; Rev. C. N. Grandison, 
D.D., President of Bennett College, Greensboro', 
N. C. ; Hon. John H. Smyth, ex-United States 
Minister, etc., Washington, D. C. ; also a group of 
five well-developed pure negroes in private life is 
given. There is no doubt that three or more types 



The Progress of the Negroes. 207 



of pure negroes are found in this country. That 
progress and leadership belong to these pure higher 
types, and that the mulattoes outnumber these in 
leadership, is, I believe, a common opinion. Hon. 
Frederick Douglass, Hon. Blanche K. Bruce, and 
Hon. John R. Lynch, stand in the front rank. The 
chief characters portrayed in '' Uncle Tom's Cabin " 
are mulattoes, quadroons, and an octoroon. Madame 
de Thoux, George Harris, and Susan are mulattoes; 
Gassy and Emmeline are quadroons; and Eliza is 
an octoroon. Uncle Tom is an exceptionably good 
negro, whose living reality it will be difficult to find. 
Sambo and Quimbo belong to the genuine Guinea 
type. At a recent pubHc school institute in the 
county of Lincoln, Mississippi, we counted fifteen 
teachers in attendance. Of this number, six male 
and seven female teachers were mulattoes. 

Progress. — What have education and freedom 
done for this people in twenty-seven years? What 
progress have they made? If by progress is meant 
political, civil, and religious privileges, improve- 
ment in knowledge, in morals, and in all those ele- 
ments that pertain to the well-being of the race, the 
question is difficult to answer in the affirmative or 
negative without committing a grave error. If it 
were a question relating to individuals, truth de- 
mands an affirmative answer. The inquiry refers to 
the race— to 7,470,040. The answer to the inquiry 
may be stated thus : Let the figure 5 represent the 
general condition of this people in 1865, and the 
figure 10 the reasonable progress of the race in 
twenty-seven years. The aggregate condition of 



2o8 The Ills of the South, 

100 persons would be represented by 500 in 1865. 
Ten persons have gained five points each ; their total 
is 100 points, measuring reasonable progress. Ninety 
persons have retrograded two points each ; 270 
points measure their general condition to-day. 
Three hundred and seventy points express the 
general condition of the race in each group of 100 
persons in 1892, as compared with 500 points ex- 
pressive of the condition of this race in 1865. The 
race has sustained loss in the general condition of 
well-being ; choice individuals have made commend- 
able improvement. They have had the privilege to 
vote, to sit on the jury, and many other privileges 
accorded the white race. They have schools and 
churches. They are masters of their own time and 
work. Some hold property. The number is small 
— it may be five per cent. There has been prog- 
ress in knowledge. It may be that 3,000,000 can 
read, and many can write. They had, in 1880, in 
the Southern States, 1,140,405 children in the pub- 
lic schools, and over 1,000,000 did not use these 
privileges. There were 18,219 teachers. In 69 
schools of science, theology, law, and medicine were 
15,639 students. In industrial schools there were 
perhaps 500'''" students. There are not less than 
5,000 t ministers of the gospel. Here are some of 
the elements of progress. 

* This number is too small. The Tuskeegee Institute of Alabama 
has from 900 to 1,000 students of this class, according to the Review 
of Reviews for April, 1894. 

f Too small. There are in the Southern States, 7,991 ordained Bap- 
tist colored ministers alone. See American Baptist Year-Book for 1894. 



The Progress of the Negroes. 209 

The things in which some of the best negroes 
have made advancement do not counterbalance the 
elements of retrogression of the legions. In other 
words, the uplifting forces have carried on an un- 
equal contest with the down-grade forces. The 
latter have done more injury to this people in their 
new relation as freedmen and citizens than the former 
have aided them to a better life. Moral or physical 
forces must govern every life. Moral considerations 
play an insignificant part in the life of the majority. 
Physical restraints are the most effective. Note tJie 
idleness of a large and increasing class. It is their 
great curse. Reason can not induce them to work, 
and compulsion is out of the question. Wise laws 
might do much. This one trait is the parent of a 
whole brood of evils. The progress in this direc- 
tion is fearful. The truth may be distasteful, yet 
15,000,000 people are witnesses to the fact. Should 
the public schools introduce lessons in industry and 
morality^ and place them on an equality with read- 
ing, writing, and arithmetic^ they would be of match- 
less importance to this race. 

This one racial quality visible everywhere, in town 
and country, can be easily verified by those who 
have direct dealings with this people. The mere 
theorist who judges them at a distance, or judges 
the whole people by a few choice specimens that 
have come under his observation, is sure to paint 
the prospects of the race in rose-colored terms. 
Thousands of men would gladly have dealings with 
such characters as Uncle Tom, but the Uncle Toms 
are few. The numerous family of Sambo, Quimbo, 
14 



2 TO The Ills of the South. 

and Topsy makes *' the negro problem " so serious. 
The African people as a class— there are noble ex- 
ceptions — have made no advance to a better life 
in mdustry. By the concurrent testimony of all 
those whose business forced them to note the char- 
acter of their work, and of those who worked with 
them side by side, and compared results, negro 
industry has decreased 66 per cent. Besides, licen- 
tioiisftess, lying, thieving, drunkenness, gambling, and 
perjury have made alarming gains in twenty-seven 
years. Promises are idle things, utterly valueless 
in their estimation. Consequences do not affect 
them. Confidence in their promises is reduced to 
the minimum. They will not testify against each 
other in court unless envy, jealousy, or hatred in- 
: spires them. These things exist ; they are reality ; 
and are not the product of prejudice or of exaggera- 
tion. James Anthony Froude relates a similar con- 
dition existing in the West Indies. He says: "The 
negro morals are as emancipated iji Dominica as in 
the rest of the West IndiesT "^ Of a former period, 
the same author thus writes : " Dominica had then 
been regarded as the choicest jewel in the necklace 
of the Antilles." t Again, speaking of the negroes 
near Mandeville, on the Island of Jamaica: " They 
stole cattle, and would not give evidence against 
each other. If brought into court they held a 
pebble in their mouths, being under the impression 
that, when they were so provided, perjury did not 
count." :t^ 

■^ The English in the West Indies, p. 152. 
\ lb., p. 153. Xlb., p. 249. 



The Progress of the Negroes. 2 1 1 

The progress of this people, as a class, in knowl- 
edge, in accumulating wealth, and in orderly life, 
are outweighed by the retrogression of the great 
body of negroes in morals. The various forms of 
immorality that mark their downward course are 
not done in a corner ; they are on record. A great 
body of white people, especially the farming peo- 
ple, are weary of the struggle. Every farmer of the 
South knows that the odds to successful farming are 
tremendous when he is dependent upon this labor. 

As early as 1874 Rev. Dr. E. J. Winkler, an 
eminent minister of Georgia, said in an article on 
"The Negroes in the Gulf States," published in the 
International Rcviezv, vol. i.. No. 5 : 

*' Labor they esteem as a humiliation. They will not engage in 
any service unless compelled by urgent necessity ; and, when em- 
ployed, are neglectful and resentful to a degree. AJthough they 
afford the only material for the future supply of menial service to 
the home and the field, the growing desire of good citizens is, that 
most of them remove to other regions. The more industrious must 
be retained, for they can be used to their own profit and for the 
advantage of the community. The others will only consume and 
destroy what more industrious hands may produce.''^ 

The Southern people will testify to the accuracy 
and severe truthfulness of this statement. The only 
difference that eighteen years have made, is, that the 
condition now is far worse ; it is more embarrassing. 
No argument can explain away the facts. More 
than this, the matter of the last statement of Dr. 
Winkler furnishes one of the causes of much of the 
lawlessness of the country. Men are crazed with 
the struggle and their desperate surroundings. The 



212 The Ills of the South. 

lawless deeds are paraded in the newspapers, but no 
inquiry is made into the condition that gave them 
birth. Peaceable Anglo-Saxon farmers of meagre 
intelligence, maddened by their hard surroundings, 
not knowing which way to look for relief, growing 
poorer every year, and more despondent, in an 
evil hour startle the community. The situation is 
dreary and menacing. Lawlessness is not the route 
out of the difficulties. There can be no sympathy 
with anarchy, but to relieve it by lawful means is 
the dictate of virtue. 

In further illustration of this retrograde move- 
ment, we quote from Mr. Froude's book, The Eng- 
lish ill the West Indies^ as a realistic companion 
portrait of the condition in the South. 

" Mr. , however, did most really convey to me the convictions 

of a lai'ge and influential body of West Indians — convictions on which 
they are already acting, and will act more and more. With Hayti so 
close, and with opinion in England indifferent of what becomes of 
them, they ivill clear out while they have somethittg left to lose, and 
will not wait till ruin is upon them, or till they are ordered off the 
land by a black legislature. There is a saying in Hayti, that the 
white man has no rights which the blacks are bound to recognize.''* 
(p. 192). . . . Col. J , acting governor of Jamaica, ''con- 
firmed the complaint which I had so often heard, that the blacks would 
not work for wages more than three days in the week, or regularly 
upon those, preferring to cultivate their own yams and sweet pota- 
toes " (p. 211). . . . "The negroes in Mandeville were, perhaps, 
as happy in their old condition as they have been since their glorious 
emancipation, and some of them to this day speak regretfully of a 
time when children did not die of neglect ; when the sick and the 
aged were taken care of, and the strong and healthy were, at 
least, as well looked after as their owner's cattle. Slavery could not 
last; but neither can the condition last which has followed it" 
(p. 246). 



The Progress of the Negroes. 



13 



Men who live in the South, familiar with what 
has been going on for twenty-five years, seeing the 
strong racial qualities of this people, involving black 
and white in ruin, and who dare speak out without 
gloss or varnish, and with no selfish motive govern- 
ing them, are bound to say the situation is full of 
alarm. 

Those that decry the endeavors of the South to 
educate her children, have not examined her condi- 
tion and her trying environments. Some compari- 
sons may emphasize the truth of what the South is 
doing. 

TABLE A. 

1880. 
School Population, Enrolment, and Attendance.* 



STATES. 


SCHOOL 
POPULATION. 


SCHOOL 
ENROLMENT. 


SCHOOL 
ATTENDANCE. 


Alabama 


388,003 
426,689 

433,444 

1,641,173 

307.321 

586,556 


179,490 
236.704 
236,533 
1,031,593 
306,777 
426,057 


117,978 
156,761 
145.190 
573.089 
233,127 
259,836 


Mississippi 

Georgia 

New York 

Massachusetts 





* Report of the Commissioner of Education, 1880, pp. 406, 407 



214 



The Ills of the South. 



TABLE B. 

1880. 

Expenditure per Capita on School Population, Enrolment, 
AND Attendance.* 



STATES. 


EXPENDITURE 
PER CAPITA 
ON SCHOOL 

POPULATION. 


EXPENDITURE 
PER CAPITA 
ON SCHOOL 

ENROLMENT. 


EXPENDITURE 
PER CAPITA 
ON SCHOOL 

ATTENDANCE. 


Alabama 


$0.96 
1.56 
1.08 

6.34 
14.91 

8.17 


$2.09 
2.70 
1.99 

10.09 

14 93 
11.25 


$3-17 

4.01 

3-31 
18.16 
19.66 

18.45 


Mississippi 

Georgia . . . ? .... 


New York 

Massachusetts 

Iowa 





TABLE C. 

1880. 

Per Cent, per Capita of wSchool Expenditure on Valuation 
OF Property. 



STATES. 


ASSESSED VALUA- 
TION OF PROP- 
ERTY, REAL AND 
PERSONAL, t 


TOTAL PUBLIC 
SCHOOL EXPENDI- 
TURE. t 


PER CENT. OF 
PUBLIC SCHOOL 
EXPENDITURE 
ON ASSESSED 
VALUATION OF 
PROPERTY, REAL 
AND PERSONAL. 


Alabama 

Mississippi 

Georgia 


$122,867,228 

110,628,129 

239,472,592 

2,651,940,006 

1,584,756,802 

398,671,251 


$375,465 

830,704 

471,029 

10,412,37s 

5,156,731 
4,921,248 


.003 + 

.oo7i + 


New York . ... 

Massachusetts 

Iowa 


.004- 
.003 + 

012 + 







* Report of the Commissioner of Education, 18S0, pp. 412, 413. 
f Compendium Tenth Census, 1880, Part IL, p. 1508, 
X Report of the Commissioner of Education, 1880, p. 412. 



The Progress of the Negroes. 215 

The valuation of property of the State of New- 
York, in 1880, was $2,651,940,006; the expenditure 
for public education during the year was $10,412,- 
378; and the school population of the State was 
1,641,173. 

According to the sources of information referred 
to — the Compendium of the Tenth Census, and the 
Report of the Commissioner of Education for 1880 
— the valuation of all property, real and personal, in 
thirteen Southern States, namely, Virginia, West Vir- 
ginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Flor- 
ida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Arkan- 
sas, Kentucky, and Tennessee, was $2,370,923,269. 
The difference in valuation between these thirteen 
States and the State of New York is $281,016,737. 
That difference alone more than equals the value of 
all the property in Florida, Alabama, and Missis- 
sippi. The expenditure of these thirteen States 
for public education in 1880 was $7,132,651. The 
school population in these thirteen States that year 
was 2,943,180 white children, and 1,680,273 negro 
children, making a total of 4,623,453 children of 
school age. These thirteen impoverished States had 
2,982,280 more children for which to provide educa- 
tion than New York. 

According to wealth, in 1880 Alabama expended 
3 mills for educational purposes ; Mississippi, 7i 
mills ; Georgia, 2 mills ; New York, 4 mills ; Massa- 
chusetts, 3 mills; and Iowa, 12 mills. Iowa leads 
in this comparison, giving three times as much 
money as New York ; yet New York has six times 
as much wealth. 



2 1 6 The Ills of the South, 

The per capita comparison , accoding to Table B, 
places the Southern States at a disadvantage. By 
this rule Alabama expends $3.17 per capita on 
school attendance; Massachusetts spends $19.66. 
Measured by property, each of these States spends 
3 mills. 

There are two men whose school expenditure 
may be thus stated : Mr. Hogan is worth $150,000. 
He sends a boy to college, costing him $500 per 
annum. Mr. Samuel is worth $250. He sends two 
children to school at a total expense of $25 per 
year. According to the per capita illustration, the 
figures of Hogan stand at $500; Samuel at $12.50. 
By the rule of wealth, Hogan expends of his wealth 
on the education of his son, 3^^ mills ; Samuel ex- 
pends of his wealth, 100 mills, or ten cents. In 
other words, Samuel does thirty times as much for 
the education of his children as Hogan, and Samuel 
is by far less able to afford it. Hogan can pay 
$5,000 per annum with far greater ease to himself 
and family than Samuel can pay $25. The same 
reasoning holds good as States. 

The whole force of these remarks is to show 
that the Southern States in their poverty, em- 
barrassed by hard surroundings, have bravely 
met their responsibilities in this matter. They 
have done what they could. Our ^' Brother in 
Black " has been a full sharer in the educational 
blessing. 

Organized benevolence coming from Northern citi- 
zens has made splendid contributions to the edu- 
cation of the negroes. The resources from which 



The Progress of the Negroes. 2 1 7 

revenues are derived, as far as they are known, 
may be thus stated : 

American Missionary Association $6,000,000 

Freedman's Aid Society (Methodist) 2,225,000 

Baptist Home Missino 2,000,000 

Presbyterian Home Mission. 1,542,746 

John F. Slater 1,000,000 

Daniel Hand 1,000,000 

Other individual gifts 1,000,000 

The different Woman's Societies 500,000 

Quakers and others 500,000 

Total $15,767,746 

The following contributions have been made by 
Southern States in aid of common and normal 
schools for this race. The statistics were prepared 
by the Rev. Dr. A. G. Haygood (General Agent of 
the Slater Fund, now Bishop of the M. E. Church, 
South). As the article in Harper s Magazine for 
July, 1889, from which these statistics are taken, 
was written in the early part of 1889, the expendi- 
tures by States do not extend beyond the year 1888. 

Alabama $3,404,293.24 

Arkansas 3,409,110.00 

Florida 849,000.00 

Georgia 2,702,276.00 

Kentucky 1.362,873.00 

Louisiana , 2,150,000.00 

Mississippi 7.136,800.00 

North Carolina 2.441,062.00 

South Carolina 3,000,000.00 

Tennessee 2,358,000.00 

Texas 4,064,259.00 

Virginia 4,500,000.00 

Total to the close of 1888 $37,377,673.24 



2i8 The Ills of the South, 

To this sum must be added the contributions for 
the same purpose, made to the close of the year 
1888, by West Virginia, Delaware, Maryland, Mis- 
souri, and the District of Columbia. These, with 
the appropriations of all for the five years following 
1888 will swell the aggregate of the Southern States 
for the education of the blacks to $55,000,000. The 
money given by the North, and the appropriations 
of the Southern States, with the District of Colum- 
bia, will make from $70,000,000 to $80,000,000. 

When, in the ages of the past, have seven million 
people on the Dark Continent, during a quarter of a 
century, received such generous aid from organized 
benevolence and State governments for their eleva- 
tion ? The woe-begone condition of the children of 
Ham in their native land pleads in vain for help ; 
but their cousins and their kindred on American 
soil, though 260 years held them in bondage, have 
in recent years been the objects of unwearied and 
benevolent attention. What is the fruitage ? 

Crime. — We must face the painful facts, and write 
the melancholy truth that, in spite of the ennobling 
agencies and of the social and civil incentives, crime 
among the sons of Ham is on the increase. Passion 
and license are stronger than reason. 

There is no disposition to make a worse showing 
for this population than the facts warrant. These 
are sufficiently alarming. Neither is there any pur- 
pose on the part of the Southern people to treat 
them more severely because their color is black. It 
is frankly admitted by those who understand their 
character, that they need greater restraints than the 



The Progress of the Negroes. 219 

Anglo-Saxon race. Fear with them is a far more 
potential factor in the maintenance of good order 
than reason. 

If the charge that the Southern people and South- 
ern courts are unjust and harsh to them be true, how 
is the disparity between the excessive number of 
African convicts in Northern prisons as compared 
with white convicts to be explained ? We would 
not charge our Northern citizens of Anglo-Saxon 
lineage with cruelty toward this people. Compare 
Tables D, E,.and H, with Tables F, G, and I. 



TABLE D. 
Population in i8So, in Six States, North.* 



STATES. 


WHITE. 


AFRICAN. 




610,769 

3,031,151 
1,614,600 
5,016,022 
3,117,920 
1,763,782 


11-547 

46,368 
9,516 

65,104 
79,900 
18,697 






New York 


Ohio 


Massachusetts 


Total 


15,154,244 


231,132 





Compendium, Tenth Census, Part I., page 3. 



220 



The Ills of the South. 



TABLE E. 

Prisoners in Penitentiaries in 1880.* 









IF CRIME AMONG 










THE WHITES 










HAD BEEN 










EQUAL TO THAT 


NUMBER OF AFRICAN 


STATES. 


WHITE. 


AFRICAN. 


OF THE AFRI- 
CANS, W H AT 
THE NUMBER 
OF WHITE CON- 
V I C T S WOULD 
HAVE BEEN. 


CONVICTS TO WHITE 
CONVICTS PER POP- 
ULATION. 


Connecticut. . 


224 


28 


1,465 


6 A. to I W. 


Illinois 


1,690 


148 


3.396 


5 A. to I W. 


Iowa 


522 


24 


4.O6S 


7 A. to I W. 


New York 


5.848 


444 


34,159 


6 A. to I W. 


Ohio 


1,130 


148 


5.768 


5 A. to I W. 


Massachusetts 


1,046 


39 


3,663 


3i A. to I W. 


Total 


10,460 


831 


52,254 


5^^ A. to I W. Av'ge. 



TABLE F. 

Population in 1S80 in Six Southern States.! 



STATES. 


WHITE. 


AFRICAN. 


Alabama 


662,185 
591.531 

454-954 
479398 

867,242 

391.105 


600,103 

2ro 666 


Arkansas .... 


Louisiana 


483,655 
650,291 

531.277 
604,332 




North Carolina 


South Carolina 




Total 


3.446,415 


3,080,324 





* Compendium, Tenth Census, Part II., pp. 1694, 1695. 
f Compendium, Tenth Census, Part L, pp. 2, 3. 



The Progress of the Negroes. 221 



TABLE G. 

Prisoners in Penitentiaries in 1880.* 



STATES. 


WHITE. 


AFRICAN. 


IF CRIME AMONG THE 
WHITES HAD BEEN 
EQUAL TO THAT OF 
THE AFRICANS, WHAT 
THE NUMBER OF 
WHITE CONVICTS 
WOULD HAVE BEEN. 


NUMBER OF AFRI- 
CAN CONVICTS 
TO WHITE CON- 
VICTS PER POP- 
ULATION. 


Alabama 

Arkansas 

Louisiana 

iSIissis-ippi 

North Carolina. . 
South Carolina. . 


75 
200 

81 

82 

428 

22 


312 

466 
653 
3S3 
237 


344 

1,017 

436 

479 
624 
152 


4I A. to I W. 
5' A. to I W. 
SlA. toiW. 
5f A. to I W. 
if A. to I W. 
7 A. toiW. 


Total 


888 


2,415 


3,052 


5 A. to I W. 



TABLE H. 

1880. 

Number of Convicts in Penitentiary to 100,000 of the 
Population. 




Connecticut. . . 

Illinois 

Iowa 

New York. . . . 

Ohio 

Massachusetts. 



* Compendium, Tenth Census, Part II., pp. 1649, 1695. 



222 



The Ills of the South. 



TABLE I. 

1880. 

Number of Convicts in Penitentiary to 100,000 of the 
Population. 



STATES. 


WHITE. 


AFRICAN. 


Alabama . . 


II 

33 
17 
17 
49 

5 


52 

96 
100 


Arkansas 


Louisiana 






72 

39 


South Carolina 





There is a difference between the Anglo-Saxon 
people and the negro race. Color is the least 
difference. Character, exhibiting itself in honor, in 
high incentives to action, in rational obedience to 
law and constituted legal authority, characterizes 
the white race in a far higher degree than the black 
race. The black man is far more disposed to con- 
strue liberty into license than the white man. Self- 
restraint is a hard lesson for him to learn. To this 
quality of his character is to be traced the increase 
of crime. It matters not whether his residence is 
in Connecticut or Massachusetts, Alabama or Mis- 
sissippi. Wherever restraints are the least felt by 
the blacks, there crime is on the increase. 

Making allowances for differences in the laws and 
the enforcement of laws in various States of the 
Union, the facts brought out in Table H can not be 
disguised. Table E shows the crime record in still 



The Progress of the Negroes. 223 

darker colors. Had crime been as prolific among 
the white inhabitants of Connecticut, Illinois, Iowa, 
New York, Ohio, and Massachusetts as among the 
231,132 Africans of these States, in 1880, there 
would have been in their penitentiaries 52,524 white 
convicts, instead of 10,460. In this statement no 
invidious comparison is intended between the North 
and the South. It is the criminal record of the 
blacks in six Northern States, where the influence 
for their elevation and progress is favorable. The 
charge of prejudice to this people that has been 
preferred against the Southern people would be 
resented there. The remorseless criminal record of 
this race in these States stares us in the face, and the 
people, North and South, dare not shut their eyes 
to its significance. 

Had the Africans in these States numbered 15,- 
154,244, and the white people 231,132, it is probable 
crimes would have increased in geometrical ratio. 

Another fact : In the Northern States are quite a 
number of educated Africans, and all the people of 
African descent have, in common with the Anglo- 
Saxon people, enjoyed in unstinted measure the 
superior advantages of the common-school system, 
as well as the advantages of the well-equipped 
higher institutions of learning ; and all this superior 
intellectual leverage has been applied in its full 
strength to the sons and daughters of this people, 
for a period of nearly one hundred years. There 
they have had the sympathy of the white people in 
a large degree. In viev/ of this may we not say, in 
all candor and kindness, and in no spirit of bitter- 



224 ^-^^^ ^^^^ ^f i^^^ South. 

ness, it is time to look for fruit ? What are the 
results of this magnificent outlay of money and 
endeavor to elevate the children of Africa in these 
Northern States? Connecticut spent in 1880, 
$1,408,375 on her public schools, and had propor- 
tionally six African convicts in her penitentiary to 
one white man ; Illinois expended that year $7,531,- 
942 on the public schools, and had proportionally, 
during the same year, five African convicts in her 
penitentiary to one white man ; Iowa's expenditure 
for common-school education in 1880 was $4,921,- 
248, yet Iowa had proportionally seven negro con- 
victs in her penitentiary to one white ; New York 
expended during that year on her public schools 
$10,412,378, and had proportionally six African con- 
victs in her penitentiaries to one white man ; Ohio's 
expenditure in 1880 for public education was $7,166,- 
963, and she had proportionally five negro convicts 
in her penitentiary to one white man ; Massachu- 
setts gave that year to the support of her common 
schools $5,156,731, and had, in proportion to popu- 
lation, three and a fourth black convicts in her 
penitentiary to one white man. The average num- 
bor of convicts in the penitentiaries of these six 
States, in proportion to population, was five and a 
third negroes to one white man. The long-hoped-for 
fruitage is not indicated by this record. 

In these six Northern States were, in 1880, 47,007 
persons of African descent, from ten years and 
upward, who could not write, and 517,850 white 
persons from ten years and upward who could not 
write. If we compare the crime record with the 



The Progress of the Negroes, 225 

illiteracy of the two races, then seventeen negro 
convicts and twenty white convicts for one thousand 
persons would be the ratios for each race. This can 
be true only upon the condition that all the convicts 
were illiterates. One fact, everywhere prominent, 
account for it as we may, that however favorable or 
unfavorable may be the environments of this race, 
there is a wide disparity between the crime record 
of the blacks and the whites. 

In the South we note the same increase of crime 
among the negroes. A Mississippi judge says that 
eighty per cent, of the crimes in the State are either 
caused by the blacks, or can be traced to them. 
The number of negro convicts in the penitentiary 
of Mississippi in 1869 was 259; in 1880, there were 
653." In Louisiana the negro convicts in 1880 were 
466; in 1890, 75 1. 1 In Florida, the negro con- 
victs in 1869 were 102, in 1892 there were 407.:!: 
In Texas the negro convicts numbered, in 1882, 
1,183 ; i^^ 1890, 1,523 ; and in 1892, 1,681. § In Ala- 
bama, the negro convicts in 1868 were 199; in 1880, 
312. The number of State convicts in Alabama, 
September 30, 1890, was, white, 167; negro, 956; 
and the number of county convicts in the State was 
63 whites, and 573 negroes. This gives a total for 

* Letter from T. B. Stone, Secretary Board of Control, Peniten- 
tiary. 

f Letter from J. W. Bates, State Clerk, Louisiana State Peniten- 
tiary. 

X Letter from Hon. L. B. Wombwell, Commissioner of Agricul- 
ture. 

§ Letter from Hon. L. A. Whatley, Superintendent of Peniten- 
tiary. 

15 



2 26 The Ills of the South, 

county and State of 230 white convicts, and 1,529 
negro convicts. The ratio of convicts in the State 
is (){\ negroes to i white. There were 2j white 
convicts to 100,000 white people, and 225 negro 
convicts to 100,000 negroes.^ 

In 1880 the negro population of the United 
States was 6,580,793.1 The negroes— those of 
African descent, whether pure or mixed — in the 
penitentiaries were 7,347 ; negroes in reformatories, 
workhouses, and houses of correction, were 1,935, 
making a total of 9,282. % The negro population 
in 1890 consisted of 6,337,980 pure Africans, and 
1,132,060 mulattoes, making a total of 7,470,040. 
The pure negroes in the penitentiaries were 10,- 
889, mulattoes 3,378 ; total, 14,267 negro convicts.§ 
Negroes in reformatories, 1,730. Total in peniten- 
tiaries and reformatories, 15,997.! Increase in ten 
years 6,715. The gain of the negro population 
in ten years is a little over 13 per cent. The in- 
crease in crime among the negroes from 1880 to 
1 890 is a little over 72 per cent. Crime increased 5J 
times as fast as population. Two hundred and four- 
teen negroes in every group of 100,000 are criminals. 
Had the aggregate population of the United States 
in 1 890 been Africans, there would have been 134,011 
black criminals in the penitentiaries and reforma- 
tories. " What of the night? " The future is dark. 

* Report of Inspectors of the Alabama Penitentiary. 

f Compendium, Tenth Census, Part II. 

X Census Bulletin, Eleventh Census, No. 199. 

§ Census Bulletin, Eleventh Census, No. 31. 

\ Census Bulletin, Eleventh Census, No. 72. 



The Progress of the Negroes, 227 

But the 15,997 do not represent in full the black 
criminal class. The convictions due to numerous 
minor offences, tried in the lower courts during 
every month of the year, in every county of the 
Southern States, must be considered. This will add 
20,000 offenders in the Southern States to the dark 
catalogue. The majority of all the trials in the 
courts of every justice of the peace are negro cases. 
Ninety per cent, of these trials consist in offences 
among themselves. 

Southern society is burdened with this crime. 
Let no reader in a distant State where negroes are 
few, imagine that the more heinous offences such 
as felony are committed by negroes altogether 
against white men. Many are so perpetrated. 

There are now in County six negroes in the 

county jail charged with murder. Four of the six 
took the life of four negroes. Two of them each 
killed his man at a negro dance. One of the six 
killed another negro over the gambling-table. A 
dispute about ten cents led to the crime. All the 
blacks that can do so, and few can not, carry pistols, 
and that in spite of the law against carrying con- 
cealed weapons. Many have shotguns. The fac- 
tors of ruin among the black people are making 
steady progress. 

This exhibit of crimes among this people is not 
born of ill will to this race. Wherever they enjoy 
freedom and mingle with the Anglo-Saxon race, 
their crimes are far in excess of the white race. In 
1833, Mr. Everett, in a speech before the Colo- 
nization Society, said : *' The free blacks form in 



2 28 The Ills of the South, 

Massachusetts about one seventy-fifth part of the 
population. One-sixth of the convicts in our 
prisons are of this class." * 

In 1834 a memorial presented to the Legislature 
of Connecticut, draws a portrait of the negroes in 
that State nearly sixty years ago, very similar in 
many phases to what any man can see in every 
Southern State in 1893, who can write the facts as 
they exist. The memorial reads : '' Not a week, 
hardly a day, passes, that they [the negroes] are not 
implicated in the violation of some law." t This is 
true all over the South to-day. 

'* Assaults and batteries, insolence to the whites, compelling a 
breach of the peace, riots in the streets, petty thefts, and continual 
trespasses on property are such common occurrences, resulting from 
the license they enjoy, that they have ceased to become subjects of 
remark. It is but recently that a band of negroes paraded the 
streets of New Haven, armed with clubs and pistols and dirks, with 
the avowed purpose of preventing the law of the land from being 
enforced against one of their species. Upon being accosted by an 
officer of justice and commanded to retire peaceably to their homes, 
their only reply consisted of abuse and threats of personal violence. 
The law was overshadowed, and the officer consulted his own safety 
in a timely retreat." 

The memorial then proceeds to show that the evil 
complained of has so rapidly progressed, that the 
whites have become the subjects of insult and abuse 
whenever they have refused to descend to familiar- 
ity with them ; that themselves, their wives and 
children, have been driven from the pavements 
where they have not submitted to personal conflict ; 

* The Gospel among the Slaves, p. 108. 
f Ibid., pp. 108, 109. 



The Progress of the Negroes, 229 

that from the licentiousness of their general habits 
they have invariably depreciated the value of prop- 
erty by their location in its neighborhood, and that 
from their notorious unclcanliness and filth they have 
become common nuisances to the community. 

This was the complaint and charge of Connecti- 
cut in 1834. In 1880 there were 240 negro con- 
victs in Connecticut to 36 white convicts for 100,- 

000 citizens of each race."^ 

" In Ohio the black population (1835) is i to 115 whites ; con- 
victs, 7 whites to 100 blacks. Vermont, hy the census of 1830, con- 
tained 277,000 souls ; 918 were negroes. In 1831 there were 74 
convicts in the prison, and of these 24 were negroes. [This means 

1 white convict to 145 negro convicts.] When compared with what 
is reported of the proportion of negroes in the prisons of the 
slave-holding States, it is shown that the proportion of negroes in 
the penitentiaries of the free States is in the ratio of more than 10 to 
I in favor of the slave-holding States. The free negroes in Ohio in 
the aggregate are in no better condition, therefore, than the slaves 
in Kentucky. They are excluded from social intercourse with the 
whites, and whatever of education you may give them will not tend to 
elevate their standing to any considerable extent." — From the Report 
of the Committee on the Judiciary, relative to the repeal of laws 
replacing restrictions and disabilities on blacks and mulattoes, by 
Mr. Gushing, February 21, 1S35. Agreed to unanimously. Legis- 
lature of Ohio. 

In 1880 there were 185 negro convicts to 36 
white convicts for 100,000 citizens of each race in 
Ohio. 

A Southern State in which there is a large black 
population, as is the case in all the Southern States, 
has dangerous and pernicious evils with which to 
contend, unknown to the older States. Many good 

* The Gospel among the Slaves, p. 109. 



230 The Ills of the South, 

citizens North and South, in strong sympathy with 
the negro's condition, intellectually and morally, 
and genuinely desirous for his elevation, have studied 
the poor, wronged negro only as they see him in 
the past, and believe that he will yield to the lever- 
age that has been so efficacious in the general 
elevation of the Anglo-Saxon race. They see him 
in his Sunday dress, but neglect to examine him in 
his every-day garb. We think it more than prob- 
able that a slave-owner raised with the negroes, who 
saw them at their work day by day up to the year 
i860, and then left the South, would be amazed 
should he return to the South in 1890, at the trans- 
formation in the every-day life of this people. 

We are informed by reliable men, police officers, 
that negro boys and negro men, some old men, are 
readily employed as agents of vice. For a nickel, 
it is said, they will aid in the prostitution of their 
own race. Girls with a little common-school educa- 
tion do not seek service with good families, not- 
withstanding that their parents are poor and can not 
support them, yet they are well dressed — far better 
dressed than the girls who make their living by 
honest toil. Every village and town in the South 
is thus embarrassed. The significance of this con- 
dition can not be too soon considered by Anglo- 
Saxon parents. The thoughtful blacks, having the 
interest of their race at heart, have cause for deep 
concern. 

The enormous licentiousness existing among this 
people is well known. It is a moral contagion. It 
deadens the perception of the right. Here are 



The Progress of the Negroes, 231 

negro women by scores in every county, with houses 
full of children, but no fathers to own them. Here 
is a mother with four girls ; she has no husband, and 
never had. Her oldest daughter has two children, 
and that daughter has no husband. It is a common 
state of things, and no one talks about it. Can this 
condition go on without terrible consequences? Can 
virtue bloom in Sodom ? Can the degradation of 
our "■ Brother in Black " go steadily forward in its 
progress of ruin, and the white race escape the con- 
tagion ? In a high moral sense, the civilization of 
the Huguenot, the Cavalier, and the Puritan is in 
danger. 

" One crime " may not be attempted by negroes 
in the South without swift retribution. The fiery 
temper of the Southern people will brook no delay 
in meting out punishment to the guilty. We 
plead in vain to let the law have its course in this 
as in other heinous offences. In spite of this well- 
known Southern sentiment, attempts at this '' one 
crime " by negroes are alarmingly on the increase. 
A person can not pick up a newspaper without an 
account of this " one crime " with all its revolting 
details. There is a timidity and dread among the 
white women of the South, unknown in the days 
of slavery. Rev. Dr. MacVicar of the American 
Baptist Home Mission Society, is represented in the 
National Baptist as saying: "The young negroes in 
the South live lives of unending debauchery and 
gambling." * 

* From Religious Herald, July 20, 1S93. 



232 



The Ills of the South. 



According to the Third Biennial Report of the 
Inspectors of Convicts for the State of Alabama, 
1890, of 31 State convicts sentenced for forgery, 21 
were negroes ; 28 convicts sentenced for rape, 23 
were negroes ; 34 convicts sentenced for arson, 
28 were negroes; 235 State convicts sentenced for 
murder, 183 were negroes. What is true in Ala- 
bama, is true in the Southern States. 

The Biennial Report of the Board of Control of 
the Mississippi State Penitentiary for the years 1890 
and 1 891, shows that of the convicts received for the 
year ending December 4, 1 891, 20 were sentenced 
for forgery, 17 of whom were negroes; 28 were sen- 
tenced for rape, 26 of whom were negroes; 21 were 
sentenced for arson, and 21 were negroes; 115 were 
sentenced for murder, and 112 were negroes. 

The criminal docket, Circuit Court of the County 
of Pike, State of Mississippi, September Term, 
1893, presents the following record: 



OFFENCES. 



Murder 

Arson 

Rape 

Retailing liquor 
Burglary 

Total 



In this county there were, in 1890, whites, 10,581 ; 
blacks, 10,620.^ The negroes have in this county 

* Compendium, Eleventh Census, Part I., p. 494. 




The Progress of the Negroes. 233 



from 30 to 35 public schools, and from 40 to 50 
churches, all with pastors of their race. In 1880 
the whites raised 4,018 bales of cotton in this 
county ; the negroes, 2,489 bales.* 

The lumber business and the railroad shops may 
employ 500 negro men. The relations between the 
two races is cordial. The most influential white 
citizens are the best friends of the colored people. 
The demand for agricultural laborers is ample. Some 
most excellent colored men live in this county. 
They are regarded by their white neighbors as trust- 
worthy. A few own property. The number of trust- 
worthy negroes is very small — from one to two per 
cent. Here, as elsewhere, the colored people all 
belong to the laboring class, with the exception of 
the preachers, the teachers, here and there a physi- 
cian, a few small shopkeepers, a few shoemakers, 
blacksmiths, carpenters, and barbers. 

Crimes are frequent. The obtuse moral faculty 
leads to all sorts of violations of the laws. Personal 
property is in danger whenever there is an oppor- 
tunity. Homicides are common. Illicit selling of 
liquor is conducted by negro women quite as exten- 
sively as by negro men. This is the settled belief. 
In every town are scores of negro boys and girls, 
from twelve to twenty years, who do not attend 
school. This is a matter of sheer unconcern with 
them and their parents. They do no work the year 
round that deserves the name. The boys are street 
loafers. They run on errands for small storekeepers, 



* Map of Mississippi. 



234 T^h^ ^^^^ of the Soitth. 

when needed, and are rewarded with a nickel or 
with a piece of cheese and a few crackers. The 
girls do less than this. They wish no honorable 
employment. Where there is one colored house- 
girl making an honorable living, there are twenty 
such girls who can not be employed to do work, 
though there is not a pound of meal in the house, 
nor money. Infanticide is a common charge against 
colored mothers without husbands. Ignorance and 
carelessness are, no doubt, chargeable with many a 
death. Still, the crushed skull of an infant demands 
a sounder explanation. The law in some States 
against the selling of laudanum without a physician's 
prescription is good. One intent of this law is to 
discourage the opium habit ; the other, no doubt, is 
to prevent crime. We mince matters. Checks and 
preventives are good, but why not go to the root of 
this moral condition ? " The fire of London was 
upon the whole a blessing. It burnt down the city 
and burnt out the plague." The '* torpid content " of 
reposing communities needs to be vastly disturbed. 
And laws, wise and humane, need to be enacted, 
that shall go down to the noisome recesses where 
lurk the germs of these enormous moral maladies. 

The court expenses for 1893 in the County of 
Pike, State of Mississippi, were more than $10,000; 
from six to seven tenths of this sum was chargeable 
to crime by negroes. The amount expended on the 
public schools for this race in the county is $7,790 
per annum. What is the fruit of this noble agency ? 
What of the forty or fifty churches? We would not 
put a straw in the way of these approved instru- 



The Progress of the Negroes. 235 

mentalities, but rather strengthen their efficiency. 
Our motive, therefore, will not be misconstrued, and 
the truth of what we are about to say will not be 
gainsaid, that the meagre acquirements of a com- 
mon-school education have had the general effect 
thus far of disqualifying the colored boys and girls 
as servants and as laborers. It is the voice of the 
South. We see the effect at home — it is the com- 
mon judgment of the Southern people. 

In Mississippi there are from 150,000 to 200,000 
colored church members, connected in the main 
with two denominations, Methodists and Baptists. 
During the scholastic year 1892-93, there were in 
this State 2,569 colored public and 79 private 
schools. The amount expended for the colored 
public schools was $340,914 ; that is, for salaries of 
teachers. When other expenses are added, with 
the appropriations to the colored normal schools 
and Alcorn University, the total annual educational 
expense bill for this race will not fall far short of 
$400,000. What is the fruitage of these intellectual, 
moral, and religious instrumentalities for the eleva- 
tion of this race? 

It is our profound conviction, that the white 
people here and in the South mean well to the 
negroes. Kindness and forbearance have character- 
ized their relation to them, in large measure. This 
truth will stand every adverse criticism, and still it 
is the truth. 



CHAPTER XIII 

THE NEGROES AS FARM LABORERS 

T^HE negroes have enjoyed freedom nearly thirty 
years. It is natural to suppose that the incen- 
tives of this new condition would prompt them to 
industrious habits. There is no ill grace in telling 
the truth concerning the racial qualities of this 
people. The evidence of personally seeing this 
people at their work by living witnesses all over the 
South, during the entire period since their emanci- 
pation, is entitled to credence. It is not necessary 
to judge the black man harshly to tell the truth 
about him. The truth without any ingredient of 
hate or prejudice is sufficiently disheartening. What 
is this truth? As independent laborers, i.e., labor- 
ers not supervised by intelligent white men in 
planning and directing, they are a failure. Planters 
and farmers, whether they employ five or five hun- 
dred, concur without dissent in this opinion. We 
submit that the concurrent judgment of these farm- 
ers living in various States is good proof. During 
a period of years, to our personal inquiry of hun- 
dreds of our best farmers, " What is the value of the 
work on farms by the old slave negroes to-day as 
compared with their work in slave times under 
humane masters ? " but one answer has been given : 
" Half, and less than half." The old slave negroes 



The Negroes as Farm Laborers. 237 



are everywhere regarded in the South as the best 
farm hands. The habits of industry taught them 
abide in a degree. They are bad managers when 
left to themselves, waste a great deal of time, and 
are self-indulgent ; still, they are the most reliable 
and industrious workers. 

'* What about the younger generation of colored 
people— those who practically know nothing of the 
life prior to the emancipation of the negroes, or who 
were born since then ? " 

*' The men do much less work than the older class, 
and the women do next to nothing." This is the judg- 
ment of white men, and this is the opinion of every 
old negro consulted by us. The agricultural condi- 
tion of the South corroborates these statements. 

In using the work done in slave times as a stand- 
ard, the unjust inference is not to be drawn that 
Southern people, as a rule, were severe, cruel, and 
unreasonable. Where there was one Simon Legree 
there were a thousand just and kind-hearted masters. 
We dare affirm that the great body of this people 
were better fed, better clothed, and better housed 
then than to-day. Slavery is dead, and may it 
remain so forever. 

Their work to-day is very inferior. It has depre- 
ciated in quantity and quality. When supervised, 
their work is not now what it once was ; when their 
work is entirely under their own control, it is very 
poor. It takes on an average to-day two negroes of 
the old class to do as much as one did formerly, 
three of the class of young men to do the work that 
one did in a former period, and five women of this 



238 The Ills of the South. 

latter class to do the work of one in past time. 
There are worthy exceptions in these groups, but 
they are few. The equation resulting from the 
character of this labor may be thus expressed : the 
work of three negroes in i860 equals the work of 
ten negroes in 1890. The result is equivalent to 
this : that if three do their full quota of reasonable 
work, seven are idle. 

From these facts certain deductions follow. As 
a race, they are not self-sustaining. They produce 
less than they consume. A man doing half work, 
his wife rendering no help, can not make sufficient 
to support himself and his wife. When there are 
small children the situation is worse. 

With this condition of Hamitic labor in the 
South, the people are confronted with a serious 
state of things. The colored producers are few, the 
non-producers are many. The Tables A, B, and C 
will exhibit the non-producing classes. 

TABLE A. 
Non-Productive Negro Class. 

1. Children under 5 years ... 1,114,365 

2. Public school children enrolled i, 140,405 

3. Teachers in public schools 18,219 

4. Students in 30 normal schools 5.439 

5. Students in 15 secondary schools 3j705 

6. Students in 16 colleges 5,066 

7. Students in 2 schools of science 434 

8. Students in 13 schools of theology 725 

9. Students in i law school 160 

10. Students in 2 schools of medicine 1 10 

11. Students in industrial schools, estimated 500 

12. Ministers of 1 he Gospel, estimated 5,000 

Total 2,294,128 



TJie Negroes as Fa inn Laborers. 239 

TABLE B. 
Non-Productive Negro Class. 

1. Convicts in State penitentiaries I5>997 

2. County convicts, estimated — small 5,ooo 

3. Insane in i8So 5>995 

4. Idiots in 1880 9.490 

5. Blind in 1880 7,384 

6. Deaf-mutes in 1880 3,i77 

Total 47,043 

TABLE C. 

Non-Productive Negro Class. 

1. Aged negroes from 70 to 100 years old 1 1 1,434 

2. Men from 35 to 69 years old, half of the class 347,048 

3. Women from 35 to 6g years old, half of the class 338,674 

4. Men from 15 to 34 years old, two-thirds of the class . . 1,039,714 

5. Women from 15 to 34 years old, four-fifths of the class. i,oS6,oio 

Total 2,922,880 

These data furnish us with 5,264,051 people be- 
longing to one race who practically produce noth- 
ing. Make an exception for i and 2 of Table B. 
They constitute expensive groups. The others of 
this table are the unfortunate groups. There will 
be little difference of opinion concerning Table A. 
Group I of Table C consists of persons deserving 
the commiseration of the communities in which 
they live. The remaining groups of this table 
make up the hard problem. What to do with 
them is the question. They perplex wise men. 
Can it be true that nearly three-sevenths of this 
people, able to work, practically do nothing to sus- 
tain life? It is not difficult to obtain evidence. 
The villages and towns of the country can furnish 



240 The Ills of the South. 

the facts. What a moral dynamite this is in the 
land ! What a hot-bed of vice ! What convulsions 
sleep within this tremendous force ! What material 
for hospitals, asylums, and criminal courts ! What 
is the prospect in the future — twenty-five years 
hence? When this population shall number twenty 
million, the race friction will be intense, unless his- 
tory is reversed. 

But let us notice the working classes of this peo- 
ple — the bread-winners. 

TABLE D. 
Working Negroes. 

1. Men from 35 to 69 years old, half of the class 347,048 

2. Women from 35 to 69 years old, half of the class 338,674 

3. Men and boys from 15 to 34 years old, one-third of the 

class 302,734 

4. Women and girls from 15 to 34 years old, one-fifth of 

the class 271, 502 

Total 1,259,958 

They do their full quota of work. This number 
represents the total of the three out of ten. It is 
supposed that their productive work now is equal 
to the work done in i860. 

The classification of this people in these four 
tables presents 1,259,958 producers against 5,264,051 
non-producers. Only the Africans in the Southern 
States are here considered. The defective groups 
in Table B are based upon the Tenth Census Report 
for 1880. 

Not quite nineteen per cent, toil to make a liv- 
ing. Eighty-one per cent, are dependent. Add to 



The Negroes as Farm Laborers. 241 

this dreary picture the fact that a kind of Chinese 
wall encircles this people. It is referred to here, 
to show that the labors of the most cultured 
Hamite in any one of the professional groups in 
Table A are confined to his own people, and the 
masses of this people are ignorant. Life among 
them is very depressed. His sympathies, hopes, 
and aspirations are hemmed in by race conditions. 
Beyond, the atmosphere is cold and repellent. The 
labors of the one hundred and sixty colored lawyers 
will in the main be confined to their own race. 
Will these barriers give way ? The subject will be 
referred to again. 

The defective industrial quality of the negroes is 
the greatest hindrance to their progress. It not 
only breeds vice, but, poor as they are, this sluggish 
disposition makes them poorer every day, and widens 
the breach between them and the white people. 
Here are a million negroes who can not claim the 
roofs that shelter them as their own, and yet they 
are more independent than the richest man in the 
country. A vast number of them would rather 
work by the day than by the week, and so on 
through the other time periods. Penniless, they 
would rather postpone work for a week or a month 
than begin to-day. They believe in the blessings 
of procrastination. It is a matter of sheer uncon- 
cern whether they please their employer or not. 
Do the work as they please, quit when they please, 
begin when they please — this is the Hamitic idea of 
labor. This state of things can not continue. The 
notion is gaining ground that the Hamites are avast 
16 



242 The Ills of the South, 

pauper race. The struggle to secure labor is be- 
coming more difficult every year, and the labor itself 
when obtained is uncertain and unsatisfactory. The 
farmer who has ten families on his place in Febru- 
ary, may not have half that number in March. 
Under these circumstances farming is a risky busi- 
ness. The sons of farmers that can do so are seek- 
ing more inviting fields of labor. 

Something must be done. It is certain, notwith- 
standing the fact just stated, that the white labor 
on farms is increasing, and black labor on farms is 
constantly decreasing. All the hill country of the 
South will be occupied by white labor first. The 
negroes, as the years go on, will gather in vast num- 
bers in the swamps and alluvial bottoms of the 
South. This is the movement. There the last bat- 
tle will be fought. 

Let us note this labor movement. In thirty 
years, population increased Zj per cent, in the 
Southern States. The whites alone increased 91 
per cent. During this period a large number of 
native white people have, by necessity, been forced 
to cultivate the soil. This number has annually aug- 
mented. They have brought to their work a degree 
of intelligence and management that could not be 
expected from the blacks. The persistence, energy, 
and enterprise of the white people is so far superior 
to the blacks, that the work and the results show in 
everything marked contrasts. We write of them as 
classes. The gentle rain that drives the negro from 
the field is a stimulus to the white man. The trifle 
that discourages the black is a matter of contempt 



The Negroes as Farm Laborers. 243 

with the white. Besides, the white men introduce 
improved farm tools and machinery wherever they 
can be used to advantage. Take the cotton-planter 
— one man with one mule does as much work and 
does it better than was formerly done by three men 
and two mules. In 1865 it took eight mules and 
two boys to run a gin. The ginning of three bales 
of cotton was a day's work. Now a small engine 
does twice the work at less expense. The white 
man is quick to see what is to be done, and does it. 
The black man is slow to see, and slower to act. 
What he does, is done awkwardly. Tell him to do 
two things, and neither is performed. He delights 
to dally at his work. It takes him twice as long as 
it does a white man to fasten a hame's string or 
adjust a backhand. His house, corn-crib, hennery, 
and garden fence, if they are of his own construction, 
are models of their kind. Blind men could do better. 
One picket of the fence is seven feet long; the next, 
four ; then, five ; next, seven again, and so on to the 
end. Some overlap each other; between others 
there are gaps of three and four inches. Some 
touch the ground, and some fail to reach it by six 
inches, and the fence is as straight as a crooked line 
can be. All this is characteristic of his work in 
general. He prefers to be his own manager — live to 
himself, and plan for himself — away from white 
influence. His progress is of the sort that makes 
himself poor, and his friends too. 

White labor, it was said, is steadily increasing. 
The superiority of this labor in the general manage- 
ment of farm work, the native energy of the white 



244 ^^^^ I^^^ of ^^^^ South. 

race, and their disposition to seize upon improved 
implements and new methods, make the advantage 
over the colored man immense. This superiority 
adds a large per cent, to the increase on production. 
The negro labor is steadily leaving the farm ; yet 
upon the whole, for the masses of this race, with a 
few exceptions, this work is best suited to them. 
They can make it profitable to themselves and to 
others, upon the condition that their labor is sub- 
ject to direction in detail. Without such superin- 
tendence, the experience of years shows that their 
work is an egregious failure. A farm under their 
management means bedlam let loose. There are ex- 
ceptions to this general statement ; but, like all 
exceptions, they are numerable. 

This fact, that the colored people are leaving the 
country for the towns, suggests another subject : 
*' Can the white people raise the cotton demanded 
by the world ? " 

We find the following statement and table in the 
Report of the Commissioner of Agriculture for 
1876, p. 136: 

(i) " Some writers have assumed, prior to the change of the labor 
system, one-sixth as the proportion of white laborers in the cotton 
fields. The proportion has been increasing for the last ten years, 
until now there are two States, according to the reports of our cor- 
respondents, in which the larger part of the product is grown by 
whites. Returns from vtore than half \\\& cotton area of Texas make 
the proportion of cotton grown by white X^or five-eighths, and data 
representing three-eighths of the Arkansas area establish the propor- 
tion of six-tenths. In every State there is a large increase of white 
labor production. While the percentage for each State might be 
nearer to perfect accuracy if the information covered every acre of 
the cotton area, the actual canvassing of about half the field, ranging 



The Negroes as Farm Laborers. 245 



in each State from three-eighths to five-eighths of its area, furnishes 
the best attainable means of estimating the proportion of the cotton 
crop grown by whites. On this basis the proportions are, 60 per 
cent, by black labor, 40 per cent, by white. The proportions, by 
States, are as follows : 



North Carolina 
South Carolina 

Georgia 

Florida 

Alabama 

Mississippi.. . 

Louisiana 

Texas 

Arkansas 

Tennessee. . . . 



BLACK. 


WHITE. 


65 


35 


68 


32 


66 


34 


72 


28 


59 


41 


63 


32 


77 


23 


3S 


62 


40 


60 


59 


41 



" The proportion of white cultivators will not decrease. As popu- 
lation increases, the white element will be stronger in numbers, and 
a larger proportion of the cotton will be grown by small proprietors ; 
while the African element will drift into menial service in towns, and 
in manufacturing and mining enterprises, and many who aspire to 
occupancy of land will earn only a precarious existence." 

This was in 1876, seventeen years ago. 

(2) *' King Cotton's days of prosperity, it was gravely predicted, 
would end forever with the emancipation of the slaves. But the 
South raises thirty per cent, more cotton to-day than it ever did 
before the war, and raises it on a smaller number of acres. And 
note the increase of white labor in the production of the cotton crop. 
Before the war, white labor produced only ten per cent, of this 
staple; in 1883, forty-four per cent. ; in 18S4, forty-eight per cent; 
in 1885, over fifty per cent. . . . The white man of the New 
South has gone to work in the cotton fields as well as everywhere 
else."* 



* The Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine for March, 1887, p. 



77] 



246 The Ills of the South. 

If the gain in cotton production by white labor is 
two and one-half per cent, annually since 1883, then 
the cotton produced by white labor in 1893 is about 
seventy per cent, of the entire crop. 

(3) " Mr. Edward Atkinson has shown that the crop produced in 
twenty-one years by free labor was 35,000,000 bales in excess of the 
crop produced in the preceding period of twenty-one years by slave 
labor. The claim has been often iterated in the South that this 
difference is due to the white labor that has entered the cotton fields 
since the war ended." 

" This old nonsense about our climate and the inability of the 
white man to toil under a blazing Southern sun, is so transparent 
that it is scarcely necessary to show its falsity. White immigration 
has poured into Florida of late, passed over the negro districts, and, 
settling in the extreme southern portion, the hottest section of the 
State, has built up there, amid its waste swamp lands, an agricultural 
prosperity that Florida never knew under slavery and negro labor. 
The white men who have poured into Texas since the war, from all 
sections of the Union, have shown that the climate did not affect 
their labor in the slightest degree ; but they have worked to such 
good purpose, that they have placed Texas at the head of the cotton 
States, the producer of nearly one-quarter of the entire crop." 

"Cotton has long since ceased to be the product of the negro. 
. . The white States and white districts have become the cotton 
centres of the South. The negro parishes of Carroll, Tensas, and 
Madison, the finest cotton country in the w^orld, where the yield is 
greater and the staple the finest, produce far smaller crops than they 
bore thirty years ago, while the white counties of Texas have 
increased their production four and five fold. This fact attracted 
the particular attention of Professor Hilgard, who prepared the 
census report on cotton, and he notes the singular coincidence that 
the bulk of the crop of Mississippi is raised in the hills, where the 
yield per acre is small, instead of in the bottoms where every condi- 
tion is favorable. The fact did not seem to strike him that the true 
reason lay in the fact, that in the hills the cotton was raised by the 
whites, in the bottoms by the negroes." 

With this condition of Hamitic labor, and all the 
resultant racial influence of this people upon pros- 



The Negroes as Farm Laborers. 247 

perity, upon morals, upon the civilization of the 
South, the time is at hand when the future of this 
race should be dispassionately considered. Southern 
agriculture can not always remain in its present par- 
alyzed condition. It is mercy to consider the race 
question now. It may be far otherwise twenty-five 
years hence. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

NEGRO COLONIZATION. 

TJISTORY has no record of two races as unlike 
* •'■ as the Anglo-Saxon and the African, living 
together in harmony under like conditions. The 
superior race is energetic and ambitious. Every 
door of enterprise, of industry, of knowledge, of 
preferment in civil and political life, is wide open to 
them. It is a masterful, dominant race. 

The other race is sluggish and unenterprising. Its 
past history is a vast Sahara. Every door of ad- 
vancement, or nearly so, open to the Anglo-Saxon, 
is closed to the African. Hayti, with a hundred years' 
experience and opportunities, and the British Colo- 
nies in the West India Islands, with nearly sixty 
years of freedom, and educational, civil, and politi- 
cal advantages, furnish no ground of hope for the 
Hamites of the Southern States. 

The Indian has long ago been forced to move 
toward the setting sun. The number of Indians is 
insignificant. When interest puts forth its claim, 
the imperious superior race will demand the re- 
moval of the sons of Ham. Interests moral, social, 
industrial, and political are already demanding a 
hearing. ** What shall we do with the negroes?** 
is impressing itself more and more upon the South- 



Negro Colonization, 249 

ern people. To impose political disabilities upon 
the black man removes one difficulty, but leaves the 
grave moral and industrial perplexities untouched. 
With these the people have to do every day. 

The consensus of thoughtful observers is, that 
two races, not homogeneous, can not live on the 
same soil. 

Mr. Froudethus expresses himself concerning this 
subject, after his visit to the English West Indian 
Colonies in 1887 : 

" The races are not equal and will not blend. If the white people 
do not depart of themselves, black legislation will make it impossible 
for any of them to stay who would not be better out of the way." 
" The whites are leaving the islands. Negro labor can not be con- 
trolled, and negro labor is the only kind of labor on the islands that 
can be employed by the English planters. Dominica has 29,900 
negroes and 100 English." 

Of this island, he says : 

" The soil was as rich as the richest in the world. The cultivation 
was growing annually less. The inspector of roads was likely to 
have an easy task, for, except close to the town, there were no roads 
at all on which anything with wheels could travel, the old roads made 
by the French having dropped into horse-tracks, and the horse- 
tracks into the beds of torrents. . . . The island goes on in a 
state of torpid content.^'' 

Of St. Vincent : 

"The prosperity has for the last forty years waned and waned. 
There are now two thousand white people there, and forty thousand 
colored people." 

Concerning Barbadoes: 

"The great prosperity of the island ended with emancipation. 
Barbadoes suffered less than Jamaica or the Antilles, because the 



250 The Ills of the South. 

population was large and the land limited, and the blacks were obliged 
to work to keep themselves alive." 

Speaking of the English West Indies in general, 
Mr. Froude remarks : " The whites whom we planted 
as our representatives, are drifting into ruin." The 
whites are leaving the islands, since they can not 
employ the negroes as laborers for a common bene- 
fit. This is the chief industrial obstacle. The 
blacks can not leave, but in the West India Islands, 
as in the Southern States, they enjoy a '* torpid 
content." This cause alone is hastening the day of 
negro deportation. 

As early as 1845, United States Senator J. H. 
Hammond of South Carolina said : 

"It is the most fatal of all fallacies to suppose that these two 
races can exist together, after any length of time, or any process of 
preparation, on terms at all approaching to equality. Of this, both 
of them are finally and fixedly convinced. . . . Every scheme 
founded upon the idea that they can remain together on the same 
soil beyond the briefest period, in any other relation than precisely 
that which now subsists between them, is not only preposterous, but 
fraught with deepest danger," 

Elsewhere in the same paper, Senator Hammond 
draws a pen picture of a state of things following 
emancipation, which will be recognized as a condi- 
tion largely true in 1893 : 

"Very few of them could be prevailed on to do a stroke of work, 
none to labor continuously while a head of cattle, sheep, or swine 
could be found in our ranges, or an ear of corn nodded in our aban- 
doned fields. These exhausted, our folds and poultry yards, barns 
and storehouses, would become their prey. Finally, our scattered 
dwellings would be plundered, perhaps fired, and the inmates 
murdered." 



Negro Colonization, 251 

The negro convicts in our penitentiaries are in part 
the fulfillment of the dreary prophecy. The labor 
question and the moral condition of the Africans 
are making more and more conclusive every month 
why the two races can not dwell on the same soil in 
peace. 

In 1782 Thomas Jefferson wrote concerning the 
negroes : 

*' Nothing is more certainly written in the book of fate than that 
these people are to be free ; nor is it less certain that the two races, 
equally free, can not live in the same country." * 

Senator J. J. Ingalls is thus reported in the 
Atlanta Constitution^ December 3, 1888 : 

" Unless history is a false teacher, it is not possible for two dis- 
tinct races, not homogeneous — that is, which can not assimilate by 
intermarriage and the mingling of blood — to exist upon terms of 
political equality under the same government. One or the other must 
go to the wall" 

Mr. Lincoln said, in his joint debate with Stephen 
A. Douglas on September 18, 1858, concerning the 
negroes : 

*' I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of bringing about in any 
way the social and political equality of the white and black races. I 
am not, nor ever have been, in favor of making voters or jurors of 
negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with 
white people ; and I will say, in addition to this, that there is a 
physical difference between the white and black races which I believe 
will forever forbid the two races living together on terms of social 
and political equality." 

When opinions are the outgrowth of a large 
observation of facts, and the operation of causes 
and their effects upon the industrial, social, and 

* Plea for Progress. 



252 The Ills of the South. 

political relations of society, then such opinions are 
entitled to high consideration. 

If the negro is here to stay, justice demands that 
he shall have an even chance in all political privi- 
leges, and that all the avenues of industry shall 
be thrown wide open for his advancement. To 
educate the negroes — fit them for high service — and 
then close all the doors of progress, is trifling with 
their destiny. In all the Northern States, there is 
no record of a negro judge, negro governor, negro 
State senator, negro mayor of a town or city, negro 
sheriff, negro officer of any sort, negro president or 
negro professor of a college. No negro minister of 
the gospel, however learned and however devout he 
may be, has up to this time, in all the years of the 
past, been called to serve a white church of any 
Christian denomination in the North. As far as we 
can learn, all these doors are closed there. Yet 
Northern sympathy. Northern philanthropy. North- 
ern pleas, social, educational, and political, in behalf 
of the negroes, have been most emphatic. If this is 
the state of affairs in the North, what can be ex- 
pected of the South, where the traditions of master 
and slave, to say nothing of other vital considera- 
tions, shut the door? 

But history vetoes these privileges to the negroes 
on the soil of the Anglo-Saxon race. Hayti sends 
out its warning. The British Colonies in the West 
India Islands bring the intelligence of the whites 
leaving the islands, weary of the struggle with the 
negroes, and of '' drifting into ruin ; " and this intel- 
ligence, so crushing to the hopes of Christian men, 



Negro Colonization. 253 

comes sixty years, nearly, after the manumission of 
the blacks. The reconstruction period of the South 
is replete in its lessons to the whole country, that 
the Anglo-Saxon people must and will rule this land. 
The North and the South are agreed upon this sub- 
ject practically ; their history runs in parallel lines, 
with this difference, that in the South are some 
sheriffs. State senators, and other civil officers of 
African descent, generally mulattoes. 

These privileges denied, all these doors closed, 
the negroes " must go to the wall." Their progress 
is hemmed in by conditions rooted in the natural 
antagonism and superiority of the Anglo-Saxon 
people, and this is stronger than the Chinese Wall. 
Add to this the moral causes characterizing the 
twenty-seven years of the negro's freedom, filling 
the land with violence and convulsions. Seventy- 
five per cent, of the criminal expense bill in the 
South is due to the negroes ; 26,046 negroes crowd 
the asylums. 

This status claims attention. Separation is the 
path of safety for both races. Wisdom, humanity, 
and Christian duty demand it. The best interests 
of the children of the white race and the black race 
require that the separation of the races receive 
speedy and earnest consideration. 

If there is any other feasible plan to remove 
existing evils, and impending dangers increasing five 
times as fast as population, it has not been revealed. 
It is madness to trifle with the situation. Separa- 
tion is better and cheaper than armed battalions. 

The leading men of this race are waking up and 



254 The Ills of the South. 

are looking to Africa as the future home for their 
people. During the session of the Colored Insti- 
tute, held in the city of Birmingham, Alabama, in 
the month of August, 1893, Bishop Abram Grant, 
D.D., is reported as having expressed himself thus: 
In his opinion "the condition of things is such, that 
the colored people 7ieed to consider the subject of eventu- 
ally making Africa their future home.'' 

In the special to the New Orleans Times-Demo- 
crat, from which the statement is taken, this is 
added : 

" The Institute is made up of some of the ablest colored men of 
the South. Graduates of colleges will take part in the discussion 
touching on the future of the sons of Ham. Rev. W. H. Sheppard, 
the colored missionary to Africa, is here, and in attendance upon 
the Institute. He believes Africa to be the proper place for the negro 
race." 

Following this, appeared an article in the Phila- 
delphia Press, from Bishop Turner, in which he 
takes strong grounds in favor of negro emigration 
to Liberia. This is a negro republic in Africa,* 
" extending 500 miles along the grain coast of 
Upper Guinea, and reaching about 50 miles into 
the interior. It was originally established by an 
association of which Henry Clay was president, 
for the purpose of furnishing a home for emanci- 
pated negroes, and giving them opportunities of 
self-improvement and self-government, in 1821." 

Bishop Turner's position is thus stated : 

" The Anglo-Saxon race that controls this country is a peculiar one. 
It is a masterful and dominating race. Wherever it has settled among 

* The People's Family Atlas of the World. 



Negro Colo7iizatzon, 255 

other races by colonization^ it has always either subjected the native races 
or exterminated them. It has subjected the native races in India, and 
at the Cape of Good Hope in Africa. It has practically extermi- 
nated the Indians in the United States, and it has, to all i^ttents aitd 
purposes, wiped out the natives in Australia and N'ew Zealand. 
. . . We do not believe that the Caucasian will accept the African 
as an equal in every respect. We are in favor of a judicious emigra- 
tion to Liberia. We should like to see a large number of young 
men with ambition and energy, of middle-aged or old men with 
experience and capital, of old and young men and women with edu- 
cation and culture to train the young, of mechanics and agicultur- 
ists, to go there to settle that country, the only ©ne in addition to 
Hayti where the problem of negro government is being solved. We 
have visited Africa more than once, and have inspected the territorial 
domain of the Liberian republic, modeled after the United States in 
its legislative, executive, and judicial departments, and we speak of 
what we know and have seen." 

Colonization is the hope of the African race. It 
is best for them and their children. It is best for 
the white people. All the facts of the case lead to 
this conclusion. It ends the strife, the turmoil. It 
is the one foundation for hope to prevent untold 
suffering to both races, and final extinction to the 
Hamites. Even now the land is full of violence. 
The discontent and the dissatisfaction of the Anglo- 
Saxon people, due to the thriftless habits, the wide- 
spread idleness and crime of the Africans, are 
ominous. Thoughtful men dare not close their 
eyes to the elements of this inflammatory situation. 
The existence of present conditions will not be a 
paralytic longevity, unless Anglo-Saxon history is 
reversed. Neither education nor the sanctuary, it 
is believed, will ever remove African racial peculiari- 
ties here. The white and the black races can not 



256 The Ills of the South. 

blend. The difference between them is not nierely 
a difference in color. It is of very small importance 
in the race question. The distinctive race qualities 
of the Africans are not only unique, but fix the gulf 
between the Africans and the Anglo-Saxons. Upon 
these qualities rests the history of this race, and 
these qualities call aloud for their exodus, their 
colonization. It is mercy, humanity, and justice to 
them. 

Dr. E. T. Winkler relates in the International 
Reviezu, that at the National Emigration Conven- 
tion of Colored People, held at Cleveland, Ohio, in 
August, 1854, Dr. M. R. Delany, a negro of pure 
blood, who was then recognized as one of the most 
cultivated and distinguished representatives of his 
people, and who subsequently received the rank of 
major in the service of the United States, presented 
a paper on the Political Destiny of the Colored 
Race, which was adopted by the Convention with- 
out modification. The following extracts from this 
authoritative document are worthy of attention: 

"Our friends in this and other countries, anxious for our eleva- 
tion, have for years been erroneously urging us to lose our identity 
as a distinct race, declaring that we were the same as other people. 
The truth is, ive are not identical with the Anglo-Saxon, or any other 
race of the Caucasian, or pure white, type of the hunian family ; 
and the sooner we kno7V and acknowledge the truth, the better for 
ovrselves and our posterity. The English, French, Irish, German, 
Italian, Turk, Persian, Greek, Jew, and all other races, have their 
native or inherent peculiarities, and why not our race ? We are not 
willing, therefore, at all times and under all circumstances, to be 
moulded into various shapes of eccentricity to suit the conveniences 
and caprices of every kind of people. We are not more suitable to 
everybody than everybody is to us ; therefore, no more like other peo- 



Negro Colonization, 257 

pie than others are like us. We have inherent traits^ attributes, so 
to speak, and native characteristics., peculiar to our race^ whether of 
pure or mixed blood ; AND ALL THAT IS REQUIRED OF US IS TO 
CULTIVATE THESE, AND DEVELOP THEM IN THEIR PURITY. . . . 

They [our fathers] admitted themselves to be inferiors ; we barely 
acknowledge the whites as equals, perhaps not in every particular." 

This extract is taken from the Life of Major 
M. R. Delany. 

To cultivate these " inherent traits " and " native 
characteristics," peculiar to the race, and ''develop 
them in their purity," demands separation. It can- 
not be done on American soil. 

Dr. Winkler adds : 

" Twenty years ago (1854) the Cleveland Convention directed the 
African exodus to Central and South America and the West Indies ; 
and to-day (1874) Mexico fronts these wandering tribes as the land 
of promise and the seat of power. There they may rest, amid such 
conditions of climate, soil, and company as suit their constitution, 
their habits, and their instincts. There they will feel at home, as 
they bask in the sun, and feast upon the spontaneous fruits of the 
tropics." * 

Since then, the great Congo Basin of Africa has 
been opened. This is the native land of the Ham- 
ites.f 

" In the opinion of some of the eminent scientists of the world, 
the Congo Basin will become the granary of the world. Vegetation 
of all kinds thrives most luxuriantly, as many as three crops a year of 
some kinds of vegetables coming to m.aturity. Coffee grows wild." 

Can the negroes go without help ? It is fair, it 
is but common justice to this people, that the 
nation that enslaved them should not only aid them 

* International Review , Vol. I., No. 5, pp. 591-594. 
t New York Ti77ies, Feb. 14, 1889. 
7 



258 The Ills of the South, 

in selecting their future home or homes, but trans- 
port them to their homes, and provide them with 
the necessaries of Hfe during the first year of their 
new residence. 

A thoughtful writer from Georgia has shown in 
the Times-Democrat of New Orleans, of May 23, 
1893, that the entire negro population of the United 
States — 9,000,000 — can be transported to Africa in 
thirty years, at a cost of $25 per capita, or a total of 
$225,000,000. To this sum he adds $525,000,000 to 
start them in their new home with food supplies, 
clothing, and necessary implements of husbandry. 
This makes a grand total of $750,000,000, and this 
vast sum can be raised at a cost of i^ per cent, on 
the assessed valuation of our property. According 
to this plan, 300,000 could be transported annually. 
The sooner the initiatory steps for the exodus of 
the negroes are taken, the better will it be for both 
races. 

The advantages of such an exodus of the negroes 
will be manifold. 

1. It will relieve the whole country of its em- 
barrassed condition. The racial qualities of the 
Africans threaten the peace of the country every 
day. It is the only plan by which a war of races 
can be averted in the near future. 

2. As fast as they leave, a vigorous white popula- 
tion will take their place. The same enterprise and 
industry attending the influx of population into 
Texas and Florida will characterize the South. 

3. The negroes from the Southern States will be 
better prepared to work out their destiny in their 



Negro Colonization, 259 

new home than those of Hayti and the British 
colonies of the West India Islands. Their close 
touch with the Anglo-Saxon people, the educational 
and religious influence, the industry and enterprise 
of the land, ought to fit African leaders for inde- 
pendent national life. If ever the negroes can be 
fitted for self-government, they have had splendid 
opportunity for such preparation, North and South, 
during the past thirty years. This may be the way 
of Providence concerning the sons of Ham. 

4. The gradual exodus plan, whether it covers 
twenty or thirty years, would annually throw new 
and vigorous life into the new African home and 
government. 

5. If Christian negroes, ministers of the gospel 
particularly, have the zeal and the missionary spirit 
of their white brethren, they will embrace this plan 
to carry the gospel message to their kindred of the 
Dark Continent. Through them Africa can be 
Christianized. More ought to be done for Africa 
by a large number of negro ministers of the gospel 
in one year than has thus far been accomplished in 
fifty years. 

6. It solves the negro problem. The exodus of 
this people puts forever at rest this vexed question. 
Without it, there is no peace for the South ; its 
development is checked ; its prosperity is lame and 
sickly ; misunderstanding of the negroes between 
the North and the South will continue; violence 
and lawlessness will hardly cease ; the negro's idle- 
ness will continue to paralyze agricultural industry ; 
and the alarming increase of crime and vice among 



26o The Ills of the South, 

this people will hasten the day of a pitiless war of 
races. 

In these pages the Africans have frequently been 
referred to as negroes. The term has been used in 
no sense to express anything that is degrading. 
Under the term ^'colored population " are included 
negroes, mulattoes, quadroons, octoroons, Chinese, 
Japanese, and Indians. Negroes designate all those 
of African descent. 

We have described this people as a daily witness 
of their life on the farm, in the village, and in the 
town, for a period of twenty-eight years. Neither 
ill will nor prejudice has been our motive. We 
have befriended them in their educational work and 
in their religious work. We have defended them 
in times of violence. We are not conscious that 
there is a negro, living or dead, whom we have 
knowingly wronged in any sense whatsoever, and 
this is the statement of candor and truth. 

Our plea to-day is — as it has ever been our plea 
— as long as the negroes remain among us, show 
them kindness — genuine kindness — and in full 
measure. Deal fairly and honestly with them. 
Help them educationally, religiously, and industri- 
ally. Help them with good counsel. Organized 
efforts may improve their morals. Industrial schools, 
not makeshifts, but such as shall do what the name 
implies, may do much. The common schools, so 
far as they relate to this people, and so far as these 
agencies can be judged by the fruit they have borne, 
are not satisfactory. They have removed illiteracy 
in a degree. The beneficiaries have not been in- 



Negro Colonization, 261 

spired to make their lives useful, but rather to shun 
and despise honest toil. Make these schools some- 
thing better than mere mechanical agents to impart 
so much knowledge. Lessons in punctuality, clean- 
liness, honesty, industry, and the like, would be in- 
valuable to this race. Make these schools morally 
disciplinary. Knowledge should show the path to 
virtue. Make the common schools efficient agents 
to energize moral principle. Dead perfunctory 
hearing of lessons is a waste of time and money. 

In dealing with the race problem, and until it is 
solved, no duty is more solemnly binding upon the 
Southern people, and joined to every interest, than 
obedience to constituted legal authority. Defective 
laws are better than no laws. A bad government is 
better than anarchy. To render obedience to " the 
powers that be," to sustain the authorities, to let 
the law take its course, are the dictates of reason. 
A lawless land, where every man can take his griev- 
ances, real or imaginary, into his own hands, is an 
accursed land. There can be no safety to life or 
property where this spirit prevails. Mob law is 
hateful in every way. It is subversive of justice. 
It is an adder, always stinging its deluded victims. 
It converts right into wrong. It damages the par- 
ticipant ; to him it is a personal injury. It is cruel 
in all its features. Under such a rule innocence has 
no protection. To-day it strikes the negro ; to- 
morrow it threatens the white man. It is ruinous 
to the country. It shames our Christianity. Such 
a law is a cheat and a delusion. It proposes to cor- 
rect crime with crime, and so it forms a league with 



262 The Ills of the South. 

guilt. It has done infinite harm, and reformed 
nothing. Distress and trouble have invariably come 
home to its blind partisans. 

*' Righteousness exalteth a nation," not violence. 
Strengthen the right by every influence that can 
give it power. Wrong in every form must be 
brought into disrepute. The perjurer wickedly 
insults the God in whose hand his breath is, severs 
the bond that binds truth to the throne of justice, 
and destroys the confidence that holds society 
together. The assassin assumes the prerogative of 
God, and loads his memory with a crime that gnaws 
to the core. Every lawless act has its penal conse- 
quences. No crime exalts, but degrades. All guilt 
lowers the man before the court of his own soul. 
Wrong is commissioned with curses ; right is dow- 
ered with blessings to mankind. Right knows 
neither rich nor poor, neither white nor black. 

To do the right is the path of wisdom and virtue. 
The best interests of the individual and the country 
depend upon it. Here is hope ; here is order ; here 
is security. Happy are the people who love and 
honor the laws of the land. Every evasion, infrac- 
tion, or subterfuge affecting the purpose or the 
execution of law is a public injury. Right embod- 
ied in statutes, and these firmly and impartially 
enforced, are essential to peace and prosperity. 



INDEX. 



A. 

Acreage, farm, increase of, 103. 
Acres, number of, in England, 

owned by r 1,000 persons, 154. 
Acres, number of, in England, 

Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, 

154- 

Acres, three-fourths of an, to 
each of 27,000,000 English- 
men, 155. 

Africa, Rev. W. H. Sheppard 
favors, 254. 

Africans, aspiring portion of, 205. 

Agencies to wrest the land from 
the people, 158. 

Agents, all the, used in produc- 
tion, entitled to their just share, 
185. 

Agricultural States, twenty-nine, 
under mortgages, 153. 

Agriculture, report of the Com- 
missioner of, 244. 

Alabama, credit system in, 72, 82. 

Alabama, negro crimes in i8go, 
232. 

Ancestor of the negroes, 203. 

Anglo-Saxon free men, their gall- 
ing yoke, 49. 

Anglo-Saxons a dominant race, 

255- 
Anglo-Saxons rule North and 
South, 8. 



Area, land, in the Southern 

States, 134. 
Arithmetic, too much in lien 

laws, 51. 
Arkansas, credit system in, 72, 

77. 

Atkinson, Mr. Edward, on cot- 
ton production, 246. 

Attorney-General of Texas on 
lands granted to corporations, 
160. 

Australian negro, a type of 
negroes, 203. 

Avoirdupois, a pound equals 
twelve ounces, 50. 

B. 

Bacon, pounds of, sold by one 
merchant in fifteen years, 128. 

Balance sheet of losses, 128. 

Balances of merchants in No- 
vember and December, iS. 

Bankruptcy, first step to, 20. 

Barbadoes, prosperity ended with 
emancipation, 117. 

Baubles, effect on negroes, 6. 

Baxendale, Joseph, maxims of, 

95. 
Bengalee, the character of, 175 . 
Bills, railroad land grant, 140, 

141. 
Blacks in the United States, 

204. 



264 



Index, 



Blacks, the, of Jamaica, will not 

work, 116. 
Blakely, Mr., speculator in war- 
rants, 65. 
Boss, effect of the boss idea on 

the negroes, 41. 
"Breeding, brains, or bullion" 

control society, 182. 
Business conducted on credit, 

ruinous to the masses, 168. 
Business, everybody's, to do right, 

178. 
Business, its scope and meaning, 

165. 
Business, the prettiest in the 

world, 47. 
Business, the term degraded in 

its use, 165. 

C. 

Caffres, type of negroes, 203. 
Caperton, James, merchant, on 

prices, 65. 
Capital of credit merchant, gains 

on, 80. 
Capital, when a Nero, is a tyrant, 

185. 
Carelessness not the basis of 

prosperity, ig. 
Cash and credit prices, table of, 

92. 
Cash basis, when attainable, 92. 
Cash business, a necessity for the 

masses, 35. 
Cash merchant, experience of, 30. 
Cash prices of certain articles, 29. 
Cattle, number of, in i860 and 

i8qo, 125. 
Cause, a, of the farmer's troubles, 

22. 



Causes, general and special, of 
depression, 34. 

Cereals in i860, Table I., 99. 

Cereals in 1S89, Table II., 
100. 

Characters, leading, in " Uncle 
Tom's Cabin," 207. 

Cheat, the successful, soon be- 
came rich, 168. 

Christianity must give sanction to 
laws, 184. 

Church, colored, draws rent 
from 180 farmers, 153. 

Churches, negro, in Pike County, 
Miss., 233. 

Civilization, the, of the Hugue- 
not, in danger, 231. 

Clarion-Ledger, opinion of, on 
lien laws, 90. 

Class, the industrious, sustains 
the towns, 197. 

Classes, four industrial classes in 
Southern towns, 188. 

Cleveland, the convention, con- 
clusion of, in 1854, 257. 

Climate, no effect of, on white 
men, 246. 

Coffee, production of, during era 
of freedom, 115. 

Coffee, production of, in Hayti 
in 1789, 114. 

Collar, a, around the neck of the 
Anglo-Saxon, 168, 

Colonization of the negroes best 
for both races, 255. 

Comparison in land area be- 
tween the South and the Ger- 
man Empire, 134. 

Competition, healthy, in trade, 
dead. 60, 



Index, 



265 



Condition of farmers in 1S90, 


Cotton, purchaser of, determined 


132. 


eight months before it is made, 


Condition of Hamitic labor, a 


74. 


serious matter, 23S, 


Cotton raised by whites in 1883, 


Confidence, basis of, 13. 


18S4, and 1885, 245. 


Congo Basin of Africa, produc- 


Cotton raised in ten States by 


tiveness of, 257. 


black and white, 245. 


Connecticut, negro crimes in, 


Cotton, 70 per cent, raised by 


1834 and 1880, 228, 229. 


white men, 246. 


Content, torpid, of Dominica, 


Cotton, the world's demand from 


249. 


1S93 to 1899, 63. 


Continent, the Dark, what has 


Counsels, the, of an old book. 


been done for, 218. 


173- 


Copartnership, the joint, 23. 


Counterfeit, the, damages the true. 


Copartnership with sorrow, 50. 


196. 


Corn acreage, short, 63. 


Country, the, is the town's work- 


Corn, the negro will not raise. 


shop, 191. 


109. 


Course, common school, impor- 


Cotton, bulk of, in Mississippi 


tance of defining, 192. 


raised on the hills, 246. 


Covenant, the, 23. 


Cotton, can white men raise, 244. 


Credit business, fruit of, in twen- 


Cotton crop cornered, effect of, 


ty-eight years, 95. 


55. 


Credit, doctrine of, 12. 


Cotton crop, value of, 66. 


Credit, his line of, and cotton 


Cotton crop, value of, in 1870 


growing, 57. 


and 1S79, 120. 


Credit prices, 20 to 100 per cent. 


Cotton growing urged, 57. 


above market value, 84. 


Cotton, increase of, in its use, 


Credit system, a step to lien 


60. 


laws, 46. 


Cotton plant, 48. 


Credit system, indefiniteness of. 


Cotton produced now in three 


15, 16. 


negro parishes of Louisiana, 


Credit system, opinion by Ray- 


246. 


mond Gazette^ 74. 


Cotton production, by black and 


Credit system, pernicious effects. 


white in Pike County, Miss., 


12. 


233- 


" Cretians, the, are always liars," 


Cotton, production of, during era 


175- 


of freedom, 114. 


Crop, one commercial, policy of. 


Cotton, production of, in Hayti, 


130. 


in 1789, 114. 


Credit system introduced, 10, 11. 



266 



Index, 



Cultivation of the soil in Domin- 
ica growing less, 249. 

Cultivation of the soil in Domin- 
ica, less annually, 117. 

Cultivators, white, of cotton, in- 
creasing, 245. 

Customers, good, pay bad debts, 
66. 

D. 

Damage, the, of too many studies, 
193- 

Debtor bound to the creditor, 17, 

Debts, bad, who pays them, 24. 

Debts in 1865, 10, 

Debts in Jamaica, 116. 

Decoy ducks, variety of, 42. 

Deficiency in corn and oats, 103. 

Depredations, negro, causes lead- 
ing to, 45. 

Desolation in the South in 1865, i. 

Despotism of fear on negroes, 4. 

Destiny of the colored race, by 
Dr. M. R. Delany, 256. 

Difference in grain crops and 
population, loi. 

Disabilities, political, on black, 
effect of, 249. 

Disadvantages of the Southern 
farmer, 2. 

Discount placed on all services 
by lien laws, 51. 

Disease, too large a population 
in towns, proof of, 188. 

Disparity in the crime record, 
225. 

Distinction, moral, defaced, 165, 

Distress, negroes in, how regard- 
ed, 3. 



Disturbances, causes leading to, 

32. 
Dollars, two million, saved on 

cash basis, 95. 
Dominica, rich soil of, 117. 
Drawbridge executes a mortgage, 

21. 
Drew, Samuel, on remedy for 

hard times, 67. 
Dumas, Alexander, to find a man, 

67. 
Duty as related to consequences, 

179. 



E. 



Easygo, Mr., terms on which 
bought, 61. 

Economy, what it could have 
done, 27. 

Education in towns, 191. 

Education of negroes, result of, 
in Northern States, 224. 

Effect of negative characters on 
society, 177. 

Effect of night meetings on ne- 
groes in some cases, 5. 

Effect of the negroes on the 
English West Indies, 212. 

Effect of the negroes upon the 
country, 212. 

Effect of town schools upon the 
country, 196. 

Encouragement offered by the 
white people, 6. 

England's farm tenantry, condi- 
tion of, 154. 

English, the, in the West Indies, 
melting away, 116. 

Enrolment, school, in three 



Index, 



267 



Northern States and three 
Southern States, 213. 

Epitaph on the life of Mr. 
Hacker, 171. 

Estate, superb, sold under the 
hammer, 62. 

Estate, the American landed, 135. 

Estates, humbler, hopeless pros- 
pect of the, 62. 

Estates in Jamaica offered for 
sale, 116. 

Everett, Mr., on negro crimes in 
Massachusetts in 1833; 228. 

Evils, great, in their relation to 
peace, 180. 

Evils in society, how checked or 
exterminated, 178. 

Example, pernicious, of an in- 
fluential man, 198. 

Exchange, the science of, its 
prominence, 166. 

Excuses, crowding life with, 190. 

Expenditure, school, per capita, 
Table B, 214. 

Expenditure, school, per cent, on 
valuation of property, 214. 

Expense bill that could be saved, 
66. 

Expensiveness of the credit busi- 
ness, 80. 

Exports of Hayti, highest annual, 
since 1790, 115. 

Exports of Hayti in 1789 and 
1790, 115. 



Failure of four months' schools, 

cause of, 194. 
Failures in business are pot all 

honest, 173. 



Farm, every, a feeder to the 
town, 189. 

Farmers, American, their position 
to society, 166. 

Farmers embarrassed by mer- 
chant farmers, 41. 

Farmers, general condition of, 

31- 
Farmers, how they fared under 

existing methods, 169. 
Farmers, the Southern, their hard 

lot, 2. 
Farm-life favorable to virtue, 166, 

167. 
Farms cultivated by owners in 

18S0, 145. 
Farms, effect of credit system on, 

152. 
Farms, merchant, how worked, 

and effect, 39, 40. 
Farms, number and size, gains as 

to ownership, 150. 
Farms, number and size, in i860 

and 1880, 148. 
Farms, number and size, in three 

groups, 149. 
Farms, number and size of, in 

each class, 147. 
Farms, number and size of, in 

ten States in 1880, 145. 
Farms, number and size of, in 

ten States in i860. 144. 
Farms rented for money, Table 

IV., 146. 
Farms rented for share of prod- 
uct. Table V., 146. 
Farms, tenure of, in ten States, 

in 1880, 147. 
Farms, who own them, 151. 
Fences, cost of, in ten States, 131. 



268 



Index. 



Fertilizers, cost of, in ten States, 

131- 

Fitzurse, Dick, the son of Risk- 
all, 169. 

Florida, credit system in, 82, S3. 

Florida, immigration into, 246. 

Florida, land in, owned by for. 
eigners, 143. 

Flour, value of, 28. 

Food products, annual loss of, in 
Mississippi, 129. 

Foot-ball, the, the negroes, of su- 
perior races, 201. 

Forces, the moral, of society, of 
supreme importance, 182. 

Forces, the uplifting and the 
down grade, of the negroes, 
209. 

Foreclosures of mortgages, 10. 

" Forty acres and a mule," 4. 

Freedmen, the effect of their ig- 
norance, 2. 

Freedom, stimulus of, no incen- 
tive to the negro, 117. 

Freeholders, their danger, 21. 

Froude, James Anthony, quoted, 
116. 

Froude, Mr,, on the two races in 
the English West Indies, 249. 

Funerals, negro, attendance on, 3. 



Gains, cash basis, table of, 93. 
Gains, on a cash basis, on 10,000 

bales of cotton, 94. 
Galveston News on land held by 

aliens, 160. 
Gambling in negro labor, 3. 
Georgia, credit system in, 83. 



Gorget, significant inscription on, 

168. 
Government of a dozen, sign of 

decay, 200. 
Grady, Henry W., effects of 

wealth, 54. 
Grants, land, to build railroads, 

141, 142. 
Grasp, beyond, of many farmers, 

buying on time, 69. 
Grenada, scene of desolation in, 

116. 
Groove, farmers and merchants 

have dropped into, 79. 
Grundy, Mrs., opinion of, 50. 
Guinea negroes, qualities of, 205. 
Guinea, the type of negroes in 

the South, 203. 
"Gurth," no real, in the South, 

168. 

H. 

Hacker, Mr,, an honest man, 170. 

Ham, four types of, in Africa, 
203, 

Hamites, the past, a dreary waste, 
203 ; prospects of the educated, 
241 ; prospects of the race, 248. 

Hammond, Harry, Esq., on 
credit system, 84, 

Hammond, J, H., United States 
Senator, prediction by, 250. 

Harlem, merchant, view of the 
situation, 24. 

Haygood, farmer, cash and credit 
prices, 65. 

Hayti, production of in 1789, 114 ; 
productions during era of free- 
dom, 114, 115. 



Index, 



269 



Hill, Hon. B. H., ruined by 

speculators, 59. 
Hogg, Governor, of Texas, on 

land corporations, 162. 
Holland, Dr. J. G., on silence, 

180. 
Home, live at, 63. 
Homeless in the land of their 

birth, 10. 
Honesty no substitute for mean- 
ness, 170. 
Honesty relegated to an inferior 

position, 48. 
Honor prostituted, 176. 
Horses, number of, in i860 and 

1890, 126. 
Hostility, no cause for, between 

classes, 32. 
Hottentots, type of negroes, 203. 

I. 

Idea, the retaliatory, in the con- 
duct of men, 172. 

Idleness not a virtuous com- 
modity, 190. 

Ignorance, as to size of debts, 17, 

Ignorance, negro, effect of, 6. 

Immigration, white, into Flor 
ida, 246. 

Immigration, white, into Texas 
246. 

Inches, twenty, equal a yard 
172. 

Income of 200,000 Englishmen, 
156. 

Indefiniteness of our school work, 
196. 

Indefiniteness of the credit sys 
tem, 15, 16. 

Indians forced westward, 248. 



Indifference of towns respecting 
farm labor, 190. 

Industry, principal, of Southern 
towns, 187. 

Influence, evil, of the system of 
advances, 82. 

Influence, for the negro, extrane- 
ous, 202. 

Influence, moral, of the towns, 197. 

Ingalls, J, J., Senator, on the 
destiny of the negroes, 251. 

Intelligence of the lolofs and 
Caffres, 205. 

lolofs, a type of negroes, 203. 

Irby, Senator, on the causes of 
unrest in the South, 73. 

Irresponsibility, false claim of, 
176. 

Island of Dominica, torpid con- 
tent of, 249. 

J. 
Jamaica, debt and taxation of, in 

1887, 116. 
Jamaica, productions of, in 1834, 

i860, and 1867, 115. 
Jefferson, Thomas, predictions by, 

concerning negroes, 251. 
Joshua, no, among the negroes, 

201. 
Judiciary, report of common, 

relative to negroes, 229. 
Justice, the administration of, 

effect of the doctrine of irre- 
sponsibility on, 181. 

L. 

Labor, depreciation of, in value, 

236. 
Labor, free negro, a failure in 

three lands, 117. 



270 



Index, 



Labor, how regarded by negroes, 
in 1874, 211. 

Labor, in general, may act the 
tyrant, 185. 

Labor, need of, on farms com- 
pared with need of roads, 189. 

Labor, negro, effect of merchant 
farms on, 41, 42, 43. 

Labor, negro, unsupervised, cause 
of trouble, 87. 

Labor, supervision of negro, 
necessary, 244. 

Land, available and unavailable, 
136. 

Land corporations in Texas, 161, 
162. 

Land, farm, owned by merchants, 
38. 

Land, farm, total in acres, 136. 

I^and in Florida owned by for- 
eigners, 143. 

Land in Texas owned by one 
syndicate, 142. 

Land, large bodies of, few left, 75. 

Land, Mississippi, owned by Eng- 
lish syndicate, 143. 

Land monopoly, danger toward, 
151. 

Land owned by aliens, locality 
of, 139. 

Land, railroad, 140. 

Land spoliation, the danger of, 

159. 
Landlords, England's, 157. 
Laws, the best, how evolved, 190. 
Lawyers, success of, 31. 
Lessons in industry, value of, 209. 
Liberia favored as a home for 

the negroes by Bishop Grant, 

254. 



Lie, a. is a confession of weak- 
ness, 175. 

Lies, a catalogue of, 176. 

Lien laws, general effect of, 36. 

Lien laws in relation to negroes 
on merchant farms, 41. 

Lien laws, opinion concerning, by 
Clarion- Ledger, 90. 

Lien serf, the, Harry Yellowly, 
168. 

Liens, cost to record, 91. 

Liens, number, in eleven counties 
of South Carolina, 85. 

Life, no, isolated, 199. 

Life on farms, conducive to 
morality, 166, 167. 

Lincoln County, Mississippi, mu- 
lattoes at institute, 207. 

Lincoln, Mr., opinion of, con- 
cerning the negroes, 251. 

Live-stock in 1S60 and 1890, Ta- 
bles I., IL, and IIL, 125, 126. 

Loss, annual, for current sup- 
plies, 79. 

Loss, average, for each county in 
the Southern States, 79. 

Loss in animals, Southern States, 
124. 

Loss on cotton in 1867 and 
1868, 59. 

Losses, balance sheet of, 128. 

Louisiana, credit system in, 76. 

Lucia, St., the chief complaints 
in, ir6. 

M. 

Macaulay, on debts, 17. 
Mac Vicar, Rev. Dr., on licen- 
tiousness of negroes, 231. 
Management, wild, 20. 



Index, 



271 



Man, the selfish, makes the world 
useful to himself, 180. 

Man, the true, makes himself use- 
ful to the world, 180. 

Mann, Horace, quoted, 188. 

Mark, the fatal cross, on liens, 
172. 

Marlborough, character of, 183. 

Massachusetts, negro crimes in, 
1833, 22S. 

Matthews, William, 54. 

Mechanics make a living, 31. 

Memories, bitter, 43, 44. 

Men, bad, in every organization, 
167. 

Men expressing convictions, few, 
177. 

Men, five hundred, tied up, 48. 

Men, many distinguished, raised 
on farms, 166. 

Men of convictions, many, 176. 

Men, professional, fate of, if all 
were Nabal Hackers, 171. 

Merchant, cash, experience of, 
30. 

Merchant, standing and service, 
166. 

Meriwether, Mr. Lee, on mort- 
gages, 153. 

"Might is right," the bad doc- 
trine, 169. 

Milch cows, number of, in 1S60 
and 1890, 125. 

Millionaires in the South, 54. 

Mississippi, credit system in, 72, 
76. 

Mississippi, land in, owned by 
English syndicate, 143. 

Mississippi, negro crimes in, 
iSgo, 232. 



Moderation, selfish, mistaken for 

purest integrity, 181. 
" Money, big, in nigger trade," 

171. 
Money, had more after the failure 

tiian before, 174. 
Money, two plans to make, 46. 
Morals and wealth, value of, to 

society, 182. 
Morals, industrial, committee on, 

in order, 191. 
Morals in politics, opinion of, by 

high official, 158. 
Morals in public men, demand of, 

183. 
Morals, negro, in Dominica and 

Jamaica, 210, 
Mortgage indebtedness, cost to 

ascertain, 91. 
Mulattoes in the United States, 

204. 
Mulattoes, per cent., in each sec- 
tion of the United States, 205. 
Mulattoes, qualities of, 205. 
Mules, number of, in i860 and 

1890, 126. 

N. 

Negrillo, a type of negroes, 203. 

Negroes, treatment of, by master 
and stranger, 3 ; their labor, a 
gambling commodity, 3; whims 
of, 3 ; fascination for political 
meetings, 3 ; three do as much 
work as one formerly, m ; 
quality of their work, ill ; ne- 
gro farm labor decreasing, 112; 
their number in Hayti in 1789, 
113; in English West Indies, 
in 1834, 115; their passive 



272 



Index. 



nature, 201 ; a bone of conten- 
tion, 202 ; achievements of, 
202 ; aboriginal type in five 
lands, 203 ; description of, 203; 
in what they have made prog- 
ress, 207, 20S ; effect of ra- 
cial qualities, 213 ; what the 
South has done for their edu- 
cation, 215, 216 ; contribu- 
tion for, by organized benevo- 
lence, 217 ; by the Southern 
States, 217 ; number in six 
Northern States, Table D, 2ig; 
number of convicts in these 
States, Table E, 220 ; number 
in six Southern States, Table 
F, 220; convicts in six South- 
ern States, Table G, 221 ; num- 
ber of convicts per ioo,coo 
inhabitants in six Northern 
States, Table H, 221 ; number 
convicts per 100,000 inhabitants 
in six Southern States, Table I, 
222 ; criminal record of, in 
Northern States, 223 ; criminal 
record of in Southern States, 

225 ; general crime record, 

226 ; trials in inferior courts, 

227 ; crimes against each other, 
227 ; crimes in Massachusetts in 
1833, 228 ; crimes in Connecti- 
cut in 1834, 228 ; crimes in Con- 
necticut in 18S0, 229 ; crimes in 
Ohio in 1835, 229 ; in Ohio, 
1880, Table H, 221 ; crimes of, 
in Vermont, 1830, 229 ; trans- 
formation in the life, from i860 
to 1890, 230 ; Southern towns 
embarrassed by their vices, 230; 
degradation of, 231 ; treatment 



of the "one crime," 231 ; tes- 
timony by Rev. Dr. MacVicar, 
231 ; crimes in Alabama in 1890, 
232 ; in Mississippi in 1890, 
232 ; in Pike County, Miss.. 
1893. 232 ; status of this race 
in Pike County, Miss., 233, 
234 ; cost of crime and edu- 
cation in Pike County, Miss., 
234 ; church members in Mis- 
sissippi, 235 ; cost of education 
in Mississippi, 235 ; value of 
the work of the younger gen- 
eration, 237 ; race not self- 
sustaining, 238; non-productive 
class. Tables A, B, and C, 238, 
239 ; working class. Table 
D, 240 ; prospect of the edu- 
cated Hamites, 241 ; labor of, 
in English West Indies, 249 ; 
number of, in Dominica, 249 ; 
in St. Vincent, 249 ; door to 
advancement of, closed in the 
North, 252; "must go to the 
wall," 253 ; number in asylums, 
253 ; government aid necessary 
to colonize them, 257 ; cost to 
colonize, 258 ; advantages of 
colonization, 258, 259 ; a plea 
for fair dealing, 260, 261, 262. 

North Carolina, credit system in, 
85, 86. 

Nudity and rags, sign of, 188. 



Object of towns, 187. 

Octoroons in the United States, 
204. 

Officers of the State make a liv- 
ing, 31- 



Index, 



Ohio, negro crimes in, 221, 229. 
Opinion, concurrent, concerning 

furnishing merchants, 79. 
Opinions, public, how produced, 

178. 
Ounces, twelve, equal a pound, 

172. 
Outlook, the, blue for the farmer, 

21. 

Overproduction of cotton, cause 

of, 56. 
Ownership, alien, in land, 138, 

139. ! 

Ownership in land by syndi- I 
Gates, 139. I 

Ovvnership, land, 136, 137. 

Ownership, railroad, in land, 137, 
138. 

Ox, the, thou shalt not muzzle. 
169. 

P. 

Papuan, a type of negroes, 203. 

Parade, too much, in our school 
work, 193. 

Parishes, three, in Louisiana, cot- 
ton produced in, 246. 

Pay, poor, to educated men, 197. 

Pen-mark, no, of a pure Hamite, 
202. 

People, five hundred, in town, 
without money, 188. 

Percentage, the, that farmers 
cannot pay, 169. 

Perils threatening the American 
estate, 158. 

Perjury, its effect on society, 25, 

174. 
Persons engaged in agriculture. 
Table VI., 106 ; classified, 
18 



Table VII., no; value of ne- 
gro work on the farm, Table 
VIII., no. 

Physicians make a moderate liv- 
ing, 31- 

Picayune, the New Orleans, on 
concentrating wealth, 56. 

Pike County, Miss., negro crimes, 
1893, 232. 

Plaint, the monotonous, 132. 

Plan, the credit system, too dan- 
gerous, 68. 

Policy, the selfish, had no rem- 
edy, 89. 

Population, increase in ten South- 
ern States, 97 ; white, three 
periods. Table IV., 104. ; col- 
ored, three periods. Table V., 
105 ; surplus in, in Southern 
towns, 188 ; school, in three 
Northern and three Southern 
States, 213 ; in Pike County, 
Miss., 232 ; of England, 154. 

Pork cornered, 55. 

Poverty of Southern farmers, 62. 

Poverty of Southern people in 
1865, 9. 

Preparation for dishonest fail- 
ures, 173. . 

Presidents of the United States, 
fifteen came from farms, 166. 

Price of cotton and old debts, 

53- 
Price of cotton, fluctuations in, 

58. 
Price of provisions, 58. 
Prices, credit, from 1865 to 1893) 

70. 71, 73. 93- 
Productions in Jamaica, three 
periods, 115. 



2 74 



Index. 



Productions on six square miles, 
191. 

Productiveness, Congo Basin, 
Africa, 257. 

Products, agricultural, of 1S60 
and 1S80, Table III., 102. 

Products, food, decrease of, in 
Southern States, 97. 

Progress, how measured, 54. 

Progress of the negroes, 207, 208. 

Property, effect of negro licen- 
tiousness on, in Connecticut, 
229. 

Properties, fine, in the market in 
Jamaica, 116. 

Prosperity, general, not in the 
country, 32. 

Prosperity in Barbadoes ended 
with emancipation, 117. 

Prosperity, material, not the su- 
preme object, 198. 

Prosperity of furnishing mer- 
chants, 62. 

Prudence, value of, 178, 179. 

Q- 

Quadroons in the United States, 
204. 

Qualities of the negroes, 210. 

Qualities, the racial, of the ne- 
groes, ruinous effect of, 213. 

Quality, the industrial, of the 
negroes, opposed to progress, 
241. 

Quicksand, the man in the, 68. 

R. 

Race question, the, demands at- 
tention, 247. 

Races in the English West Indies 
will not blend, 249. 



Races, unlike, cannot live in har- 
mony, 248. 

Railroad land owned by foreign 
capitalists, 142. 

Railroads, miles of, in the United 
States, 141. 

Raymond Gazette on the credit 
system, 74. 

Reasons for deportation of ne- 
groes, by Bishop Turner, 255. 

Reconstruction period in the 
South, lessons of, 253. 

Reenslavement, effect of report 
on negroes, 4. 

Reflections, bitter, traced to credit 
business, 21. 

Reformation, how produced, 81. 

Relations between black and 
white, 235. 

Religious meetings by negroes, 

4, 5. 

Remedies against land specula- 
tion, 164. 

Remuneration of capital on farms, 

33- 
Rental drawn from English farms, 

154- 
Residence of blacks and mulat- 

toes in the United States, 204. 
Right and wrong not contingent 

on knowledge, 171. 
Risks of the farmers, 34. 
Roads, good, value of. 189. 
Roads in Dominica, 249. 
Ruskin on the condition of the 

poor in England, 157. 

S. 

Salary of 177 clergymen in Eng- 
land, 156. 



Index, 



275 



Saying, a favorite, of Mr. 

Hacker, 170. 
Schedule, tax, efTect of idleness 

on, 189. 
Schools, common, in towns, who 

support them, 193. 
Schools, high, need of, ig6. 
Schools, public, in Pike County, 

Miss., for negroes, 233. 
Schools, the four months of 

the country, follow the town, 

194. 
Self-denial, what it can do, 50. 
Selfishness, the dominant, read in 

the desolation of homes, 171. 
Selma Times ^ Ala., how to get 

out of debt, 75. 
Separation, the path of safety, 

253. 
Services, all, discount placed on, 

by lien laws, 51. 
Share plan of working, a favorite, 

37- 
Sheep, number of, in i860 and 

l8go, 125. 
Sherman, Wade, a negro, man- 
agement of, 59. 
Shylocks, their opportunity, 9. 
Signatures, false, 50. 
Situation, inflammatory elements 

of the, 255. 
Situation, the, in 1893, 86. 
Situation, the, in the South, an 

invitation to crookedness in 

business, 167. 
Slavery, negro, dead forever, 6. 
Slaves, eight hundred, do my bid- 
ding, 48. 
Slaves in the English West Indies 

paid for, 115. 



Smiles, Samuel, on high profits, i6* 
Smith, Prof. Eugene Allen, on 

credit system, 82. 
South, the, cannot be made a 

Hayti, 7. 
South, the condition of, in 1865, i. 
South Carolina, credit system in, 

84. 
South-land, the, Shylock's eye is 

on, 152. 
Speculation, era of, in the South, 

57- 
Speculators, their feast day after 

the war, 9. 
Splendor, guilty, inquiry as to the 

cause, 167. 
Statistics as to valuation of prop- 
erty in 1880, 26. 
Stephens, Alexander H., quoted, 

115. 
Struggle, the, the English of Ja- 
maica tired of, 116. 
Studies in common schools, too 

many, 192. 
Sugar, production of, during era 

of freedom, 114. 
Sugar, production of, in Hayti 

in 1789, 114. 
Sugar struck from the custom 

house lists in 182 1, 114. 
Surface land in ten States, 135. 
Swearing, false, 25. 
Swine, number of, in i860 and 

1890, 125. 
Sympathy, the need of, between 

farmer and merchant, 69. 
System, negro tenant, one form 

of, 87. 
System, the oppression, broader 

than losses, 62. 



276 



Index, 



T. 

Talfourd, Judge, on sympathy, 
69. 

Temple, Sir William, considered 
self first, iSo. 

Testimony as to high prices and 
credit system in Alabama, 72 ; 
in Mississippi, 72 ; in Texas, 
72 ; in Arkansas, 72 ; in Louisi- 
ana, 76 ; in Mississippi, 76 ; 
in Tennessee, 77 ; in Arkansas, 
77 ; in Texas, 78 ; in Alabama, 
82 ; in Florida, 82, 83 ; in 
Georgia, 83 ; in South Caro- 
lina, 84, 85 ; in North Caro- 
lina, 85, 86. 

Texas land granted to corpora- 
tions, 161. 

Texas, land in, owned by one 
syndicate, 142. 

Texas, white labor placed, at the 
head of cotton States, 246. 

Thievery, negro, the cause of 
violence, 46. 

Thrall, the, of Wagter Brothers, 
169. 

Times, hard, not surprising, 20. 

Town, a, full of unemployed 
labor, no benefit to, 189. 

Town, the, a political centre, 199. 

Towns, ambition of, 188. 

Townships in Southern States 
that lost population, 189. 

Transactions, scurvy, what must 
be done to make them look fair 
and honest, 174. 

Transactions, unscrupulous, cause 
of, 50. 

Trusting, blind, required, 19. 



Turner, Colonel, flimsy reflection 

of, at the gallows, 183. 
Type of negroes that furnish 

leaders, 206. 

U. 

Uncle Toms Cabin, leading 

characters in, 207. 
Unrest, cause of, in the South, 

73. 

V. 

Valuation of property in 1880, 
26. 

Value of farms, no progress in. 
Table IX., 118. 

Value of farms, ten Northern 
States, Table X., 119. 

Value of two cotton crops, 108. 

Value, production of, 14. 

Values, farm, cause of their re- 
duction, 113. 

Vermont, negro crimes in, 1S30, 
229. 

Vice, men connive at, 181. 

Vincent, St., prosperity of, 249. 

Virtue, the one vicarious, on rec- 
ord, 171. 

Voorhees, Senator D. W., on 
condition of England's farm 
tenantry, 154. 

Votes, how cast by negroes, 4. 

W. 

Wage plan disliked by the 

negroes, 36. 
" Wamba," no real, in the South. 

land, 168. 
Warrants, school and bridge, 

price of, 65. 



Index, 



277 



Wealth and morals, value of, to 

society, 182. 
Wealth, great, a menace, 54. 
Wealth, guilty, an infamous load, 

172. 
Wealth of the nation, 31,100 

people own two-thirds, 184. 
Wealth, when a blessing, 184. 
Wheat crop cornered by one man, 

55. 
White Cap-ism, occasion of one 

form of, 86, 87. 
White cultivators of cotton in- 
creasing, 245. 
White labor in Texas, effect of, 

246. 
Whites in English West Indies 

drifting into ruin, 250. 
Whites leaving Dominica, 249. 



Winkler, Rev. Dr. E. J., opinion 

of, concerning the negroes, 

211. 
Work, better, in common schools, 

the need of, 195. 
Work of negroes, character of the. 

243. 
Work of white man, character of 

the, 242. 
Work-people, treatment of, in a 

Massachusetts factory, 54. 
World, The, on land spoliation, 

159- 



Yard, a, equals 25 inches, 50. 
YelloMdy, Harry, the son of 

Hardfate. 168. 
Yoke, Rehoboam's, is heavy, 170. 




XTbe StoriP of the Bations. 



Messrs. G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS take pleasure in 
announcing that they have in course of publication, in 
co-operation with Mr. T. Fisher Unwin, of London, a 
series of historical studies, intended to present in a 
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In the story form the current of each national life is 
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It is the plan of the writers of the different volumes to 
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The subjects of the different volumes have been planned 
to cover connecting and, as far as possible, consecutive 
epochs or periods, so that the set when completed will 
present in a comprehensive narrative the chief events in 



the great STORY OF THE NATIONS ; but it is, of course 
not always practicable to issue the several volumes in 
their chronological order. 

The " Stories " are printed in good readable type, and 
in handsome i2mo form. They are adequately illustrated 
and furnished with maps and indexes. Price, per vol., 
cloth, Si. 50. Half morocco, gilt top, $1.75. 

The following volumes are now ready (May, 1893): 

THE STORY OF GREECE. Prof. Jas. A. Harrison. 

•' " ROME. Arthur Oilman. 

" THE JEWS. Prof. Tames K. HosMER. 

*« CHALDEA. Z. a. Ragozin. 

" (GERMANY. S. Baring-Gould. 

" *' NORWAY. HjALMAR H. Boyesen. 

" SPAIN. Rev. E. E. and Susan Hale. 

" HUNGARY. Prof A. VAmbery. 

" CARTHAGE. Prof. Alfred [. Church. 

" THE SARACENS. Arthur Oilman. 

"THE MOORS IN SPAIN. Stanley Lane-Poole. 

" 'ITiE NORMANS. Sarah Orne Jewett. 

" PERSIA. S. G. W. Benjamin. 

" ANCIENT EGYPT. Prof. Geo. Rawlinson. 

" ALEXANDER'S EMPIRE. Prof. J. P. Mahaffy. 

" ASSYRIA. Z. A. Rag'-zin. 

" THE GOTHS. Henry Bradley. 

" " IRELAND. Hon. Emily Lawless. 

" " TURKEY. Stanley Lane- Poole. 

" MEDIA, BABYLON, AND PERSIA. Z. A. Ragozin. 

♦' " MEDIAEVAL FRANCE. Prof. Gustave Masson. 

'• HOLLAND. Prof. J. Thorold Rogers. 

" " MEXICO. Susan Hale. 

" PHCENICIA. Prof. Gk.o. Rawlinson. 

" THE HANSA TOWNS. Helen Zimmern. 

" EARLY BRITAIN. Prof. Alfred J Church. 

" THE BARBARY CORSAIRS. Stanley Lane- Poole. 

" RUSSIA. W. R. Morfill. 

" THE JEWS UNDER ROME. W.D.Morrison. 

" SCOTLAND. John Mackintosh. 

.. SWITZERLAND. R. Stead and Mrs. A. Hug. 

♦' PORTUGAL. H. Morse Stephens. 

" THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE. C. W. C. Oman. 

" " SICILY. E. A. Freeman. 

" THE TUSCAN REPUBLICS. Bella Duffy. 

" POLAND. W. R. Morfill. 



fbcvocB of the Bationa 

EDITED BY 

EVELYN ABBOTT, M.A., Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford. 



A Series of biographical studies of the Hves and work 
of a number of representative historical characters about 
whom have gathered the great traditions of the Nations 
to which they belonged, and who have been accepted, in 
many instances, as types of the several National ideals. 
With the life of each typical character will be presented 
a picture of the National conditions surrounding him 
during his career. 

The narratives are the work of writers who are recog- 
nized authorities on their several subjects, and, while 
thoroughly trustworthy as history, will present picturesque 
and dramatic "stories " of the Men and of the events con- 
nected with them. 

To the Life of each " Hero " will be given one duo- 
decimo volume, handsomely printed in large type, pro- 
vided with maps and adequately illustrated according to 
the special requirements of the several subjects. The 
volumes will be sold separately as follows : 

Cloth extra $i 50 

Half morocco, uncut edges, gilt top . . . i 75 
Large paper, limited to 250 numbered copies for 
subscribers to the series. These may be ob- 
tained in sheets folded, or in cloth, uncut 
edges 3 50 



The first group of the Series will comprise twelve 
volumes, as follows: 
Nelson, and the Naval Supremacy of England. By W. Clark 

Russell, author of " Tlie Wreck of the Grosvenor," etc. 
Gustavus Adolphus, and the Struggle of Protestantism for Exist- 
ence. By C. R. L. Fletcher, M. A., late Fellow of All Souls College, 
^ Oxford. 
Pel-icles, and the Golden Age of Athens. By Evelyn Abbott, M.A., 

Fellow of Balliol College. Oxford. 
Theodoric the Goth, the Barbarian Champion of Civilization. By 

Thomas Hodgkin, author of " Italy and Her Invaders," etc. 
Sir Philip Sidney, and the Chivalry of England. By H. R. Fox= 

Bourne, author of " The Life of John Locke," etc. 
Julius Caesar, and the Organization of the Roman Empire. By 

W. Warde Fowler, M.A., Fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford. 
John Wyclif, Last of the Schoolmen and First of the English Re- 
formers. By Lewis Sargeant, author of " New Greece," etc. 
Napoleon, Warrior and Ruler, and the Military Supremacy of 

Revolutionary France. By W. O'Connor Morris, sometime 

Scholar of Oriel College, Oxford. 
Henry of Navarre, and the Huguenots in France. By P. F.Willert, 

M.A., Fellow of Exeter College, Oxford. 
Alexander the Great, and the Extension of Greek Rule and of 

Greek Ideas. By Prof. Benjamin I. Wheeler, Cornell University. 
Charlemagne, the Reorganizer of Europe. By Prof. George L. Burr, 

Cornell University. 
Louis XIV., and the Zenith of the French Monarchy. By Arthur 

Hassall, M.A., Senior Student of Christ Church College, Oxford. 

To be followed by : 

Cicero, and the Fall of the Roman Republic. By J. L. Strachan 

Davidson, M.A., Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford. 
Sir Walter Raleigh, and the Adventurers of England. By A. L. 

Smith, M.A., Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford. 
Bismarck. The New German Empire : How It Arose ; What It 

Replaced ; and What It Stands For. By James Sime, author of 

" A Life of Lessing," etc. 
William of Orange, the Founder of the Dutch Republic. By Ruth 

Putnam. * 

Hannibal, and the Struggle between Carthage and Rome. By 

E. A. Freeman, D.C.L., LL.D., Regius Prof, of History in the 

University of Oxford. 
Alfred the Great, and the First Kingdom in England. By F. York 

Powell, M.A., Senior Student of Christ Church College, Oxford. 
Charles the Bold, and the Attempt to Found a Middle Kingdom. 

By R. Lodge, M.A., Fellow of Brasenose College, Oxford. 
John Calvin, the Hero of the French Protestants. By Owen M. 

Edwards, Fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford. 
Oliver Cromwell, and the Rule of the Puritans in England. By 

Charles Firth, Balliol College, Oxford. 
Marlborough, and England as a Military Power. By C. W. C. 

Oman, A.M., Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford. 

G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS 

new YORK LONDON 

27 WEST TWENTY-THIRD ST. 24 BEDFORD ST., STRAND 



mm^ 




LIBRARY 




